


On the High Wire

by bathtimefunduck



Series: Lucy Lane's Season 2 Blu-Ray Edition [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, director sanvers endgame, don't worry they'll get there, idiot exes, ladies with shit parents and second best sibling syndrome club, lucy doesn't like secrets, lucy pines - Freeform, lucy pines hard and for a long time, maggie enters in ep 3, nb!vas, our ladies get the screentime they deserve, she does like rules and regulations, they exist for a reason kara, they're all freaking disasters, toxic parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2018-12-13 12:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 122,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11760411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bathtimefunduck/pseuds/bathtimefunduck
Summary: An episode by episode rewrite of season 2 from Lucy's perspective, as she navigates the carnage left behind by myriad, failing relationships, and maybe the spark of something new.





	1. Episode 1: Out of the Clown Car

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://www.salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for agreeing to beta this monster project.  
> Please note that some parts of the dialogue are pulled from the episode more or less intact for continuity.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode 1: Lucy deals with bureaucratic bullshit and her father, only to come back and find everything is basically on fire. 
> 
> Oh, and apparently her brother-in-law is Superman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com/post/164034363929/on-the-high-wire-by-bathtimefunduck-chapter-1) for the amazing preview gifset below.

 

 

Lucy had just spent the better part of two weeks behind closed doors, arguing with armchair generals and draft dodging politicians over the importance of the DEO’s discretionary budget, even as arrests were going down in favor of support and rehabilitation. There was only so much xenophobia she could handle with a blank face and without wanting to strangle someone, and she had hit that limit last Thursday.

Stepping out of that room and coming face to face with General Sam Lane was pretty much Lucy’s worst nightmare, and the last thing she wanted to deal with.

“Sir.”

“Major.” The General paused. “Lucy. Do you have time for lunch or are you flying out?”

The lie was at the tip of her tongue. She’d spent days arguing with the same kind of men, ones who’d rather sacrifice an entire city than let an alien help fight other aliens, the thought of another one was enough to put her off food entirely.

She and her father hadn’t spoken much since Myriad.

Lucy had, in fact, spent much of her free time dodging him while she navigated the garbage infested waters of Washington, and she knew that he was likely aware of that.

She also knew he was probably well aware of her duty-approved flight plans.

“I’ll need to swing by my hotel and get my bags from bag check so that I can leave right after. Did you have somewhere in mind?”

The harsh lines of the general’s face softened in something that, on a better day, Lucy would liken to relief. “There’s a whiskey bar not far from here. The club sandwich is good, and you probably need a drink after that.”

She couldn’t stop the snort. She’d need one for dealing with lunch with her father just as badly.

“That sounds fine,” she lied. “Text me the address and I can meet you there in 45 minutes or so?”

He nodded, stepping out of her way.

Lucy was proud of herself, not dropping her shoulders until she was safely inside the Lyft and well out of sight of the Washington vultures.

“Two stops today?”

“Beacon Hotel to grab my bags and the Root Cellar, yeah.”

“You got it, Ma’am.”

* * *

 

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the bar, ensconced in leather seats and warm, quiet mid-afternoon atmosphere, Lucy noted that she needed to drag her best friend here one day. The place was right up Danvers’ aisle, provided she didn’t mind splurging for the night. She sipped at her bourbon and pretended that she and her father hadn’t been sat in a stiff silence for the whole ten minutes since she had arrived.

The bourbon was excellent, but it usually was when her father was paying.

“Is the DEO treating you well? I heard the _martian_ moved into the city base.”

“Mmhmm. _J’onn_ and I split the responsibilities. I like the desert base, it gives me time to get the paperwork in order without worrying the place is going to be attacked every ten seconds.”

“ _Supergirl_ moved over there too?”

“Most of senior command did, active teams too. Made sense to take them where the action is and let me build my own team,” Lucy smirked. “I wouldn’t let them take Vasquez though. They hired Winn Schott, they have their own comm tech instead.”

“Olsen’s friend?”

“Winn’s a genius, but I need someone with a little more work ethic.”

He frowned. “The thing lets them slack off?”

She tossed back the rest of her drink. “No, _J’onn_ runs a tight ship. Winn just has attention problems. He gets the job done.”

“Hmph.”

Lucy set the glass down a little harder than she should have. “Look, General, is there a reason you wanted to meet with me?”

“I’m your father, Lucy.”

Her laugh was sharp and bitter. “You haven’t been my father in years. It’s well past time I realize that.”

“Been talking to Lois, have you?”

“No.” No, they hadn’t talked in years, not really. Aside from two separate conversations about breaking Jimmy’s heart.

She had hung up only minutes into each, because _of course_ Lois had taken the side of her husband’s best friend over her estranged sister. Lois had had her chances to rebuild her half of the bridges burned between them, and Lucy wasn’t coming further than halfway.

It wasn’t just her father she had lost when her mother died.

“What do you _want_?”

“A man can’t catch up with his daughter?”

“I’m not going to be your mole within the DEO.”

“I’m not asking you to, Lucy!”

Her father sighed and finished off his own glass. He stared at her for a minute before shifting uncomfortably. “You remember CADMUS?”

“The black site you wanted to send J’onn and Danvers to? For illegal experimentation?”

He shifted again and ignored that. “They’ve gone off the grid.”

“What do you mean off the grid?”

“Rogue, Luce. They stopped reporting in around the time Lord just up and disappeared,” he said.

“Lord’s missing?”

“You can’t tell anyone this, Luce.”

“G-Dad this is serious.”

“I’m only telling you this much because they’re going after your city, and I want you safe, I want you watching your back, you hear me?”

“Dad-”

“Now I still think aliens need to get off our planet,” he said. “But you and Lois call those capes friends, and you should know they’ll be some of the first a rogue CADMUS is after,” he said.

“Dad?”

Lane looked around quickly. He leaned forward and kissed Lucy’s forehead before getting up to toss money on the table. “I have to go. Be careful, Luce.”

She called for him again, but the general waved her off and hurried away. She tilted her head back for a moment before rolling it to crack her neck. Judging by the amount on the table, she could afford another drink, and from the sounds of it, she was going to need it.

* * *

 

Lucy may have been a little drunk by the time she got on the plane. Between the message from Alex about the pod, the conversation with her father, and just the last year in general, all she wanted was to get home and forget for a minute. Her sparse, barely functional apartment sounded like heaven, and all she wanted to do was sink onto that bed and sleep for the next three weeks.

Or until her shift tomorrow, whatever.

Lucy might have had a few more drinks on the plane, just tipsy enough that she didn’t mind the taste of bottom shelf booze. If she was going to have a hangover, she wanted to do it properly. Especially as the businessman next to her would not take a hint and shut up. It wasn’t until she nearly broke his wandering hand and told him she was a lawyer that he scooted as far over as possible and let her have the last two hours in relative silence.

Danvers would have been proud of her.

Lucy really enjoyed copying the other woman’s “Maxwell Lord is nearby” bitch face. It worked like a charm every time, especially when combined with a twist of the wrist.

The rest of the flight was fine, really, although Lucy probably should have laid off the bourbon. But the thought of CADMUS going rogue, her father, everything really, was more than she wanted to handle.

She didn’t really regret crossing the line from tipsy to drunk when they hit the tarmac and she turned on her phone to seven voicemails and thirty-six texts from Alex.

Sometimes it was hard to believe that Sunshine Danvers and Alex were related. Other times, Lucy received text messages consisting purely of punctuation, and it became more obvious. Lucy was a little too drunk to bother trying to decipher them, choosing to shove her way past Mr. Handsy at the first opportunity she had to get the fuck off the plane. Her uniform might earn her a little leeway, but Lucy was ready for her least sexy PJs and a bath.

But Alex was waiting at baggage claim, and that could only mean trouble.

But Lucy was drunk, she’d had a shit day overall, and nothing was more fun than messing with Special Agent Badass.

Lucy swaggered, hips swaying to the bourbon beat, looking up and down Danvers as she approached. “Here to welcome me home, Danvers?”

“Did you get my messages?”

“I received them. I’m off duty until tomorrow. My plans tonight involve no work and a bubble bath,” Lucy paused only inches away so that she could more obviously take in the fantastic sight of Alex Danvers in civvies. “But I’d be more than happy to add you to the equation. Do you prefer lavender or rosewater?”

Alex Danvers had few tells, but Lucy was proud to know that the first of them was the reddening of the tips of her ears. That’s how Lucy realized Alex didn’t _always_ miss the blatant come-ons. Just most of them.

“Shut up, Luce. A pod landed last night with an unconscious alien resembling a Kryptonian male.”

Lucy closed her eyes and let out a frustrated breath. “Danvers, I don’t care. I’ve spent two weeks in Washington arguing for your paycheck. I had lunch with my father. I’ve had too much booze to even think about extra duty right now, and you’re standing between me and my pajamas.”

“Your hangover, more like.”

“Move, buzzkill, that’s my bag.”

Instead of letting Lucy grab it, Alex shouldered it for her. “If you’d read my messages, you’d know I’m also here as your ride.”

“I’m not getting on your bike in this skirt.”

Alex’s gaze strayed to Lucy’s legs just a little too long. Lucy raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for Alex to remember she was straight.

“I didn’t bring my bike. Your hands wander.”

“And absolutely no one would blame me for it, Danvers,” Lucy laughed. “I’m not getting in a DEO car and heading to either office, Danvers, I just spent six hours on a plane.”

“I’m taking you home, whiner.”

“Mmmmm...Now that’s what I like to hear. My place or yours?”

“LANE!”

* * *

 

Unfortunately, Alex left Lucy on her own once they’d reached Lucy’s minimalist apartment and she’d shoved a bottle of water in Lucy’s hands.

That was the last memory she had before waking to her cold apartment alone at 5:30 in the morning, and she was fairly certain she’d never gotten around to that bath, which was decidedly unfortunate. As she got older, Lucy found that long distance travel no longer agreed with her spine, even in the one instance that being shorter than average actually came in handy. Her spine popped and crackled as she got ready for the day, thankfully in DEO black rather than her uniform. Boots were far more comfortable than her dress heels, even if she did have to stand on things to reach Vasquez’s hidden snack pile in the break room.

Her phone nearly buzzed itself off the counter while she brushed her teeth. She flipped it over and nearly choked on the foam.

 

 

> _Lane_
> 
> _Lane, you better be awake._
> 
> _Lucy, I’m downstairs, hurry up_
> 
> _Don’t make me come up there_
> 
> _You forgot I was bringing you to HQ didn’t you_
> 
> _Useless drunk_
> 
> _Don’t make me come up there_

Lucy laughed as the messages got more and more harried. Really, Danvers was lucky Lucy had set her alarm so early, because she had zero recollection of any conversation involving the city base.

 

 

 

 

 

> _Keep your pants on Danvers, unless you do come up here where pants are optional._

She could only imagine the sputtering that happened downstairs while she gargled.  

Lucy took her sweet time meandering down to the ground level, all three floors to it, and then had to go do it again when she realized she forgot her sunglasses. Alex was waiting for her outside, arms crossed as she leaned against the black SUV and tapped her foot impatiently.

“I hope you’re ready to relive my punk rock phase at full volume, Lane.”

“Bring it on, Danvers, I’ll be sure to get the incriminating photos from your sister.”

Lucy reached for the overhead handle to haul herself up into the vehicle and ignored Alex’s teasing offer of a hand up. They teased each other all the time, but Alex didn’t actually turn on punk rock or up the volume to levels louder than a whisper.

There was even a coffee waiting for her in Alex’s extra thermos, almost like she knew Lucy would be late. It was almost like they were friends or something, driving in near silence with the occasional muttered curse from Alex when they missed a light.

Silence with Alex was much more preferable to the awkward silence that had encompassed most of her lunch with the general. Silence with Alex was rarely heavy with disappointment, rather it was a sense of contentment and familiarity.

It was nice.

It was a kind of bubble that surrounded them as they moved past security and into the normal chaos of the DEO. The halls towards medical were quieter, with fewer armed agents stomping past in regulation boots. Lucy was so content with following Alex’s lead in the less-familiar halls of the inner city DEO that she almost ran into the other woman’s back when she stopped suddenly.

Alex laughed, “You alright, Lane?”

“I’m hungover and you know it,” Lucy said, following Alex’s eyes to the large observation windows. “That’s Superboy?”

“We don’t know he’s Kryptonian.”

“Kryptonite?”

“I can’t ethically use that without his consent.”

“Mmhm.”

“His skin shows similar resistance to damage, and the vitals we can track are similar to Kara’s.”

“No feeding tube?”

“He doesn’t seem to be suffering for it. I can’t get his mouth open-- he’s unconscious and it’s worse than that time I tried to force-feed Kara brussel sprouts.”

Lucy snickered, “You couldn’t sell that one as an experiment, huh?”

“She told you about the potato canon?” Alex grinned.

Years seemed to fall off her friend when she smiled. Lucy didn’t have a reply, just soaking in Alex’s smile with a smile of her own.

They were startled from their impromptu staring match by J’onn.

“Lane, good to see you. Danvers, any change?”

“Hi, J’onn.”

“No, sir. He’s stable, but no change.”

“If he is Kryptonian, his stomach should wake him up soon enough,” J’onn muttered. “How was your trip, Major?”

“For the millionth time, J’onn, my name is Lucy. And the trip went well, I think we’ll get all the non-existent money our non-existent organization could hope to get our hands on. And my father definitely does not say hello.”

Lucy paused. Her father said to tell no one, implied there were CADMUS moles in the DEO and didn’t specify where. She glanced at Alex, then back at J’onn and decided to hold her tongue for now.

J’onn and Alex didn’t notice the pause, already deep in conversation about Superboy. Moderately attractive typical white male hominid, Lucy found herself largely uninterested. She’d grown up with Lois fawning over Superman and then dated a man she had only half-jokingly referred to as Superman’s secret boyfriend. Junior held little interest for her until he woke up and opened his mouth.

“Hey Luce, you wanna catch up on the shows you missed while you were gone tonight?”

“No Kara? I thought you’d want to watch the Venture launch with her.”

“Oh,” Alex’s eyes widened. “Um. She’s watching it with James.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Oh! Good for them!”

It hurt a little, that James moved on so quickly. But a bigger part of her realized they both began moving on long before she moved to National City chasing the ghost of their relationship. Moving here was a great idea, but not for any of the reasons she did it.

Alex was still staring at her, the slightest crinkle between her eyes.

“Alex, I’m fine, I promise. Movie night sounds good.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Great,” J’onn interrupted. “Lane, let’s head to my office and discuss the budget changes. I’m sure Danvers has some experiments running.”

Going over facilities budget predictions with J’onn was only slightly better than dealing with DC. Granted, there was less sexism and a nearly endless supply of Choco’s, but it was still pretty high up on Lucy’s favorite things to never do. Really the best part was when J’onn would go off on a tangent describing something one of the Danvers sisters did and why they needed precautions against it ever happening again.

She couldn’t help but think he was just handing her a lifetime of blackmail material, and as that thought passed through her mind, he winked.

Still, four hours was a long time to discuss numbers on spreadsheets. A delivered lunch allowed them a short break, and Lucy once again considered her father’s words. She considered them _silently_ , however, knowing that J’onn’s office was far from secure thanks to his open-door policy.

J’onn frowned at her, and reached into his desk to retrieve a detector. He’d only just flipped it on when one of the greenies poached from the FBI burst in, panting.

“Sir! Ma’am! There’s a… situation… The Venture-”

Lucy shared a look with J’onn before shoving back from the desk and her half-eaten sandwich. They headed for the control room, the greenie at their heels.

“Schott!”

“The Venture took off as planned, sir. But there’s been an explosion. Supergirl is enroute,” Winn said, glancing up. “Oh heeeeeey, Lu- uh, Co-Director Lane.”

Winn handed her a comset to slip into her ear, and Lucy did so quickly. Quickly enough to catch the tail end of Supergirl welcoming her cousin to the party.

Fantastic. James’ buddy was in town.

Superman ranked slightly above Lois, as far as Lucy was concerned. Clark wasn’t so bad, but with Clark came Lois, and if Lois was around, Superman wasn’t far behind. She shook her head, trying wipe clean the thoughts she had about _why_ that was the case.

She let out a slow breath when the Supers got the passenger ship down safely.

She had faith in Supergirl, really, but the implications of a failed teamup were terrifying.

As it was, she’d probably catch a lot of flack the next time she was in DC because the team up happened without government oversight.

She _did_ enjoy listening to Supergirl tease her cousin about changing his diapers, and added it to her list of blackmail material.

Alex joined them at the table, watching the dot that was her sister circle back towards them.

Winn was practically vibrating with excitement. That too, was getting added to Lucy’s mental vault. If she weren’t here in a professional manner, she would have whipped out her phone just to catch it on video. If Supergirl was a golden retriever after working with her cousin, watching Winn reacted to a Super teamup was like watching a chihuahua do a pee pee dance.

Supergirl was, of course, all smiles as she burst through the balcony door. “Hey everybody, I’m back! Listen up.”

Crowds of DEO agents who had gathered to watch everything they had on the Venture parted as Superman landed next, leaving a clear path towards Lucy and the rest. She took her time turning to face them, crossing her arms over her chest.

Superman nodded his greeting.

“This is my cousin, Su-” Kara laughed. “I guess you already know.”

Supergirl looked like a proud mama bear while her cousin pranced around shaking hands and saying hello. Lucy rolled her eyes, and was pleased to see Alex reacting much the same. J’onn too, looked less than pleased while Superman thanked the DEO agents for their service in his Truth, Justice, and the American Way manner.

Kara made a face. “Oh, brother.”

Lucy leaned into Alex. “Did you know she would bring him back here?”

“No,” Alex said. “J’onn?’

He rested his hands on his hips, looking every bit the space dad disappointed in the hooligans his child was hanging around with. “No.”

“Is that a problem?” Alex asked.

“More importantly, does he have clearance?” Lucy asked.

“No,” J’onn replied.

To which question, Lucy wasn’t sure.

“Oh my god, he’s heading towards me,” Winn muttered.

Lucy really regretted not recording this.

“Winn, this is my cousin, Superman,” Kara said, waving her hand excitedly.

“Hi.”

Winn latched onto Superman’s outstretched hand, “I have a million questions.”

Lucy almost felt bad for Superman.

Alex, snickering, clearly did not.

“Okay… When Lex Luthor set off the earthquake in California, did you gauge the focal depth with your x-ray vision?”

Superman glanced at his cousin for help. Winn still hadn’t let go of his hand.

“Winn!” said Supergirl. “Breathe.”

Winn stepped back and let go, offering a very nerdy thumbs up.

Alex pushes away from where she’s leaning on the table and heads over. Lucy follows just behind her.

Superman sees Alex first and greets her with a smile. “Alex, it’s good to see you.”

“You too,” Alex says, the traitor leaning into Superman for a hug.

“Kara told me your father might still be alive. And you know your father means a lot to me, so… If there’s anything I can do…”

Lucy wondered how many NDA’s Pam would be handing out this afternoon. Superman just flying in on the heels of his cousin’s boots, Superman just tossing out Supergirl’s secret identity and relation to Alex like everyone in the damn world was aware of it-

“Thank you, Clark.” Alex said.

Lucy froze.

Not again.

No.

It couldn’t be.

She didn’t know Kara that well when she dumped her secret identity on Lucy. That’s the reason Lucy didn’t recognize her new friend in the Superhero. That’s the only reason the glasses worked.

There was no way she, a professional bullshitter, missed that her brother-in-law, dopey, clumsy Clark Kent was secretly Superman.

Superman who was...constantly saving her sister from certain death.

“Clark.”

Superman froze, and Lucy felt really stupid. He and Kara had the same deer-in-headlights look.

Alex turned to look between her and Clark. “Lucy?”

“How’s Lois, _Clark_?”

Clark chuckled nervously. “She’s fine.”

Alex raised her eyebrows.

A throat cleared.

“J’onn.”

Lucy hadn’t thought it was possible for J’onn to look more like a disappointed father than he had earlier. She was wrong.

“Superman.”

J’onn sounded less irritated the last time Lucy’s _father_ was in town.

“Nice to see you again,” J’onn said.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t be staying long,” Clark sassed.

“Never know what trouble Lois will get into without him,” muttered Lucy.

“Uh….I just invited Superman to visit our mystery guest.”

“Did you get clearance for that?” Lucy asked.

“He’s Superman?”

“And Superman was a toddler when he left Krypton. If _you_ don’t recognize podboy, why would he have clearance to come stare at an unconscious alien?”

“He’s my cousin!’

J’onn snorted, “Follow me.”

Lucy stared at Kara as the two men walked away. “We have rules and procedures here, Kara. You work with _us_ , remember?”

“Yeah, fine, got it. Sorry, Lucy, I just got excited.” Kara shrugged. “What’s up with those two?”

Alex leaned into her sister. “No idea.”

Lucy almost missed the devious smile on Alex’s face.

She’s glad she didn’t.

“Your cousin smells terrific.”

“Ugh.”

Kara looked absolutely disgusted.

“Just be glad you never walked in on him and Lois, kid.” Lucy shuddered. “Hey, question.”

“Hmm?”

“Did he have that mark on his ass when you changed his diaper or is that a more recent thing?”

“Enough!” Kara said, stomping off.

Alex appreciated Lucy’s humor. They shared a laugh for a moment before the chuckles drifted off and Alex nudged Lucy.

“You okay, Lucy?”

“Clark Kent is Superman.”

“Yes?”

“My brother-in-law is Superman.”

“You’re saying this like it’s news to you-” Alex froze. “Oh my god it’s news to you.”

Lucy pursed her lips. She leaned into Alex for a minute before shifting away with a decided nod.

“Mhm. Right. Jimmy is a dead man.”

“Wait, Lucy- slow down!”

* * *

 

Lucy sat in the conference room going over the budget forecasts for Supergirl cleanup, and vowed to give a talk to Kara about damage control. She was staring at the trends from the last year and her eyes were ready to bug out of her head. How could _one_ alien cause so much collateral damage?

J’onn startled Lucy out of her budgeting induced panic. “What’s on your mind, Agent Danvers.”

“I know why you and Superman aren’t the best of friends.” A folder slapped the table. “Operation Emerald.”

“What’s Operation Emerald?” Lucy asked.

“How’d you find out about that?”

Alex hugged herself tighter and shared a look with Lucy. “I cross-referenced your personnel file with Superman.”

Sometimes Lucy forgot where Kara learned to break the rules. Kryptonians had a very strict society, or so she’d heard. And then Alex Danvers would show her Slytherin side, and Lucy would suddenly remember the one that always came back to bite her in the ass.

J’onn sighed and flipped through the file before handing it over to Lucy. “Back when I first took over the DEO, we got a report about a meteorite coming down in the desert. Superman would work with us back then, so we both headed out to investigate. We got there, it was dark and… But I could see something down in the crater. Green, glowing like an emerald.”

“Kryptonite,” she and Alex said in tandem.

J’onn nodded. “It didn’t affect me, but Superman got down there and he started heaving. Passed out.”

“I named it that,” he sighed. “Superman wanted to destroy it all.”

“But you kept it,” said Alex.

“He wasn’t the only Kryptonian out there,” Lucy muttered as she flipped through the file. “How many had you caught from Fort Rozz at that point?”

“Not enough, clearly.” J’onn shook his head. “Their powers are limitless, and we had all of Astra and Non’s forces to deal with. We needed a way to protect ourselves from them.”

“Except “them” includes my sister, while the rest of them are gone.”

“Alex,” Lucy said. “Lord is still out there somewhere, and with him is more synthetic Kryptonite. We can’t just toss away our only hope of stopping her. It’s how you _saved_ her, remember?”

Alex’s jaw twitched.

Whatever her response was, Winn interrupted as he quickly walked into the room.

“Um, we may have a problem. I’ve been going over the data from Luthor Corp. Now, the oscillator that exploded on the Venture, it was located underneath the main passenger cabin, right? In fact, it was housed under seat 23B.”

“The point, Schott?” Lucy sighed.

“According to the manifest, guess who was _supposed_ to be sitting in seat 23B?” he paused. “Lena Luthor.”

“Lena Luthor wasn’t behind the explosion.” said J’onn.

“She was the target,” Alex agreed.

Lucy was beginning to wish she had stayed in the desert. Shit like this didn’t happen out there anymore, not with Supergirl in the city.

* * *

 

Lucy was unwinding with three fingers of something with a delicious burn as she tried to forget the dumpster fire of the past few days when she got the call.

“Lane.”

“Lucy.”

“James?”

“Hey, yeah, you have a minute?”

Lucy looked at her nearly empty glass. She took a deep breath and refilled it. “What do you need, Mr. Liarpants?”

“Mr. Liarpants?”

“Mmm. I found out something interesting today.”

“What’s that?”

“That your boyfriend and my sister’s are one and the same. Clark Kent, the bumbling farm boy himself, is Superman.” Lucy took a drink. “Very nice of you and Lois to keep that from me.”

“I-Lucy, it wasn’t my secret to tell,” he protested.

“They’ve been married for years, _Jimmy_. You and I dated for most of that time.”

“You and Lois aren’t exactly close, Lucy, but you were close to your father.”

“Don’t bring him into this, James. You know I was close to him because Lois _walked away_ ,” Lucy snarled, the glass hitting the counter harder than she intended.

“Look I’m sorry you’re upset-”

“But you’re not sorry for keeping it from me.”

“This isn’t why I called, Luce.”

“Why _did_ you call,” Lucy asked.

“I just wanted you to know that Kara and I broke up.”

The phone in Lucy’s hand buzzed angrily. She pulled it away from her ear, setting it on speaker phone so that she could talk to her idiot ex and check her messages at the same time.

Because of course it was Kara.

“Can you break up if you haven’t even been on a date?” she asked absently.

 

 

> _So I know you said you didn’t mind me and James_
> 
> _I’m sorry that sounds bad_
> 
> _I mean_
> 
> _You know what I mean_
> 
> _I probably shouldn’t be bothering you with this_
> 
> _With you and James and me and James_

“She said she needs to find herself.”

“Maybe she realized she’s a lesbian.”

“That’s not funny, Lucy.”

Lucy wasn’t entirely sure she was joking.

 

 

 

 

> _Jimmy said you two broke up._
> 
> _So much is changing!_
> 
> _I don’t do well with change!_
> 
> _Lucy what do I do?_
> 
> _I think I hurt his feelings_
> 
> _I hurt MY feelings_
> 
> _Lucy?_
> 
> _Kara, I’m not the one you should be talking to about this_
> 
> _Alex doesn’t date!_

Lucy snorted.

“What’s so funny, Lucy? I called you for advice.”

“The fact that my ex is calling for advice to get back the woman I stepped aside for is hilarious, James Olsen.”

 

> _Give him some space Kara_
> 
> _Figure yourself out first, figure out what you want_
> 
> _If you’re meant to be, he’ll be there_
> 
>  
> 
>   _Thanks Lucy_

Lucy sighed. “Look, James. Clearly she’s got some stuff to figure out. Give her the space to do that.”

“You sound like a bad chick flick.”

“The only thing that makes them a chick flick is the presence of two or more women in them, Mr. Olsen.”

James laughed. “Sorry, Lucy.”

“Go hang out with your boys, James. Either you and Kara will work out in the end or not, that’s up to you guys.” Lucy filled her glass again. “If you’re looking for real advice I have some for you: don’t call your ex girlfriend about it.”

She hung up without waiting for him to say goodbye. The days since returning to National City had been inching towards  the levels previously only felt on the Hill, and Lucy was sick of it. She briefly contemplated calling Vasquez over for pizza and whatever women’s soccer they could find on TV before she realized Vas was on shift.

She thought about it for a moment.

She reached for her phone.

 

 

 

 

> _Danvers_
> 
> _Get over here_
> 
> _We need to drink to baby Luthor saving your life_
> 
> _And you being alive_
> 
> _Also your sister is an idiot_
> 
> _I’ll be over in 15_
> 
> _You’d better get the good stuff out_
> 
> _You have to earn the good stuff, hot stuff_

 

* * *

 

The best thing about Alex Danvers was that she came with her own bottle.

“And you brought me a pizza!”

“How much have you had to drink, Lane?”

“I can drink you under the table and you know it, Danvers.”

“I have video that says otherwise,” Alex grins, sliding uncomfortably close as she squeezed between the doorframe and Lucy.

Lucy smacked Alex’s ass, making sure to get a quick grab in at the end. She loved the little squeak Agent Badass made, and the little jump she did to get out of Lucy’s reach was even better. “Oh, Danvers, I’d do that dance for you sober if you asked.”

“You’re trashed, Lane. What’s up?”

“James called.”

Alex frowned. “To apologize about Clark? I’m sorry, Lucy, I thought you knew-”

“We don’t have to remember how big of an idiot I am, thanks. No, he called about Kara.”

“Date ideas or…”

“They broke up, apparently.”

Lucy slid a plate in front of Alex before taking her seat and digging in. She watched as Alex frowned, staring deeply into the pools of grease in the cheese. Alex wrinkled her nose, squinting in disbelief.

“How do you break up without going on a date?”

“That’s what I asked!”

“And why didn’t Kara call me?”

“Probably ‘cuz you don’t date,” Lucy said, shoving pizza into her mouth.

“I date!” Alex made a face, “That’s disgusting, Lane, you could at least chew it first. Are you part Kryptonian?”

“Mm no, but yours said you don’t date, and I’ve never seen you date, so empirical evidence says you don’t date.” Lucy nodded.

“Correlation isn’t causation, if you weren’t Army you would know that. When did Kara say I don’t date?”

“When she texted.”

Alex stared at Lucy. “She called you?”

“She _texted_. Which was good, because I was on the phone with Jimmy.”

Alex looked at the beer in her hand. She looked back at Lucy. Without a word, she handed it to Lucy and got up to grab another one. “They both wanted to talk to you about them?”

“ _I know_.”

“I can see why you were drinking.”

“Mmhmmm.” Lucy reached for the remote.

“If we’re celebrating me being alive, shouldn’t I get to pick what we’re watching?”

“I had to listen to your sister and my ex boyfriend freak out about their break up. We’re watching soccer.”

“No, anything but soccer. That’s as boring as golf!”

“Shut your mouth, Danvers, the women who play golf never take their shirts off.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Lane?”

“Shhhhh. It’s starting.”

Lucy felt Alex’s confused stare all throughout the game. She didn’t care, jumping up and shouting when the refs made bad calls, yelling obscenities at the screen anytime the cameras paused on the US coach. Alex didn’t say a word though, even if she was a good sport when Lucy spilled her beer on her after the winning goal.

Lucy didn’t miss the way Alex’s eyes widened when half the team ripped off their jersey’s to celebrate.

“And _that_ is why we watch women’s soccer.”

“It’s still pretty boring, Lane.”

“You willingly stare at mold for hours, Danvers, your sense of fun is warped.”

Alex snorted, but didn’t disagree.

“Speaking of warped, maybe we should invite the Junior Luthor to join the club.”

“Wait, what? Who? What club?”

“Lena Luthor. You know, crazy brother tried to kill her? I mean, your sister’s a superhero, mine won a pulitzer and _is apparently married to a superhero_ , hers is a world famous psychopath who tries to kill superheroes. I feel like we’d have a lot in common.”

“I feel like you’re drunk off your ass, Lane.”

“Why yes, people _do_ get drunk off my fantastic ass, thank you for noticing, Danvers.”

“It’s not that great.”

Lucy smirked and waited for Alex to catch up with her thoughts.

She wasn’t disappointed in the slightest when Alex’s ears went red and she started sputtering.

“I-”

“Save it, Danvers.”

“You’re the worst, Lane.”

Lucy cackled. The stress of the last few weeks, the weirdness of earlier with James and Kara, it all washed away, at least for a little while, as she laughed at the scowl on Danvers’ face. That look might scare baby agents away, but Lucy had seen the badass melt over pictures of her sister surrounded by dogs in supergirl costumes. If anything, the face Alex made at her had Lucy laughing harder, sliding off her seat with tears in her eyes.

Seeing Lucy roll around in hysterics was enough to get Alex to join in.

“You’re a mess, Luce.”

“That’s why we’re friends, Alex.”

“I still can’t believe you didn’t know Clark was Superman,” Alex paused. “Have you really seen him naked?”

“Can it, Danvers,” Lucy said. She rubbed gingerly at her aching ribs. “I stopped by once, in Metropolis, after Lois had to be rescued. I wanted to check on her. They left the door open. I don’t know what he did with his suit, because it was his work pants hanging around his ankles.”

“Ew.” Alex shuddered.

“Ew is right. There’s a European game on soon. You sticking around?”

Alex nearly knocked her beer over. “Uh, sure.”

Lucy snorted, and reached for the remote to change it to the correct channel. The Danvers sisters were going to be the death of her.

She wouldn’t miss it for the world.

  
  
  
  



	2. Episode 2: Caped Clowns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara pulls away from Alex, and Lucy deals with the aftermath. Alex is a dumbass, and Clark swings by for a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

Getting text messages from J’onn complaining about her brother-in-law was new for Lucy. Entertaining, but new. Apparently, while Cape One and Cape Two were having “hashtag too much fun” as J’onn had spelled out via text, they were driving J’onn nuts.

Lucy may or may not have asked Vasquez to hop on their comms line to catch a bit of it, only to realize that double the sunshine and puppies was a bit much more than Lucy was ready for on a Tuesday morning before her third cup of coffee.

She headed into town for dinner. Lucy came in early, left late, and needed sugar badly. A piping hot cinnamon roll from Noonan’s sounded fantastic, and Lucy figured she could get something healthier on the side to make herself feel better about destroying her diet.

She was in line when the texts from Alex started rolling in. Lucy hadn’t been expecting Kara to invite Clark to sister night.

Perhaps she should have, after Kara chose to talk to Lucy over Alex about Lucy’s ex-boyfriend.

By the time Alex stopped texting, Lucy was beginning to think she’d have to head over and bury the body of America’s Greatest Hero.

She was halfway home when Alex called her back.

“Danvers? Shouldn’t you be at Sister and Nerdy Cousin Night?”

“Jumper on the bridge. It’s Corben.”

“I thought he died?”

“Yeah, well, he’s got a chest full of Kryptonite,” said Alex.

“I’ll be right there.”

Lucy rerouted, crossing four lanes of traffic at angles sharper than legally recommended. It took her five minutes to park out front and hurry inside. Her feet ached, her brain ached, and the last thing she wanted to do was deal with her brother-in-law about Kryptonite. J’onn had filled her in the other day about why they were so tense, and Lucy knew Mr. High and Mighty would not appreciate the news.

Apparently she was late to the party.

Supergirl leaned into Alex, who must have changed back into work clothes the moment Sister Night was interrupted. Lucy really needed to have a talk with Danvers about burying her feelings in work, she was getting tired of hearing Pam bitch about Alex’s overtime.

Alex was the only one who acknowledged Lucy’s approach. She made a face as Superman started to get in J’onn’s face. Lucy really did not want to get in the middle of a Superman versus Green Martian fight. The city campus was ridiculously expensive to repair compared to a concrete bunker. The number of requisition forms were already lining up in her head.

“Start talking, J’onn!” Superman shouted.

“A shipment went missing four months ago,” J’onn said. “We’ve done all we can to find it.”

“Four months ago?” Supergirl asked.

“ _Went missing?!_ ”

Alex moved to step forward, but Lucy shook her head. She crossed her arms and braced herself for the anger of the Man of Steel.

“It was stolen,” said Lucy.

Superman spun to face her, thunderous frown and all.

“We thought it was an inside job, but everyone in the transport came up clean.”

“So, you have _a mole_?!” he said, turning to face J’onn again.

Yes, probably. The suspicions that had been building, corroborated by her father, plus the latest events with Kryptonite Skeletor made it very likely.

Lucy Lane sure as hell wasn’t ready to admit that to Superman though.

“We don’t know that,” J’onn said.

“If you’d gotten rid of it when I told you to…”

Pointing. Always pointing.

It’s always hindsight that proved 20/20. The more she was around Superman, the more he resembled the farm boy who married her sister.

“We would have been helpless when Non and Astra launched Myriad,” J’onn said, stepping up into Superman’s face. “Or have you forgotten that there was a force even the Man of Steel couldn’t defeat?”

“Superman and Martian Manhunter are gonna fight,” Winn said nervously. “This is terrible. Also awesome.”

Lucy glanced over her shoulder to see him stepping uncertainly away from the conflict. Alex was still keeping a swaying Supergirl on her feet, but was watching Superman and J’onn closely. Lucy sighed.

She uncrossed her arms and stepped forward. She wasn’t stupid enough to think she could move them if they didn’t want to be moved. But they let her wedge herself between them. J’onn stepped back respectfully, but Superman? Lucy had to shove at his chest repeatedly until he got the hint and backed off.  

“We have given our lives protecting the people of Earth.”

“And so have the members of the DEO, _Superman_. Except they have _actually_ died doing it,” Lucy hissed. “Humans are vulnerable to _everything_ , and yet we get up every day and fight things no one human has any hope of stopping. You have one _single_ vulnerability on this planet, and _you are not alone_. Every time I turn around, there’s another Kryptonian popping up from a planet destroyed _before I was born_.”

“If you cared about Kara at all—”

“Don’t pull that shit with me, Clark, I am _far_ more likely to stab you with it than to ever _consider_ hurting Kara.” Lucy raised an eyebrow and stared him down from a foot closer to the ground. “So watch what you say.”

“Or _what_?”

J’onn’s hand landed on Lucy’s shoulder to pull her back. Her jaw clenched and she refused to move, still staring down Superman.

Every speaker in the room suddenly hissed with static. Superman winced, reaching up to rub at his ears even as they all looked around. All of the monitors in the control room went black, before shooting back to life with binary running behind a glitching computerized face.

Lucy reached for her phone to make sure Indigo was still locked safely away.

“The Earth has been stolen from us.”

Lucy snorted. The computerized face sounded like a republican.

“And the enemy has come in the guise of heroes.”

A picture of Supergirl replaced the face before flashing back.

“They say they come in peace, to protect us from ourselves. But how long will it be before these gods decide to rule instead of serve? We are the antidote to their poison.”

Shots of earth from space. Fireballs. Dramatics and theatrics. Even her father would be impressed.

“We are the scientists who will show them what humans are capable of. Those who have sided with the invaders will not be spared. You cannot stop us.”

More images, then the face again.

“We are CADMUS.”

The screens went black.

Everyone in the control room stood stock still, staring at the blank screens.

Lucy pursed her lips. She inhaled for one beat, then two.

She exhaled.

“Well _fuck_.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy and Alex met at Alex’s apartment that night.

“Considering how rarely you date, I was expecting a twin,” Lucy said, gesturing with her drink at Alex’s massive bed.

The platform made it a centerpiece of the whole apartment. Lucy was a little jealous, the pillows alone took up more space than she would. It looked plush and comfortable, and probably cost more than an entire year’s rent.

“Yeah, well, you’ve clearly never crashed with Kara in your bed. I need every inch of that.”

Alex paused.

She tossed back the rest of her drink and poured another. “Then again, maybe I won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Lucy reached out and pushed Alex’s glass back onto the table. “Hey, Danvers, slow it down. What are you talking about?”

“Kara’s thinking about moving to Metropolis.”

“Kara’s doing what now?”

“Kara,” Alex said, jerking her glass back, “wants to move to Metropolis with Clark. Get away from the DEO so J’onn doesn’t have to feel bad about the Kryptonite. So I can have a life outside of her.”

Lucy snorted. “As if you’d know what to do with that.”

Alex frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Alex. You don’t date. You don’t have hobbies—”

“I have hobbies!”

“Watching your DVR religiously is not a hobby, Danvers, it wouldn’t even be that full if you did something outside of work _ever_.”

“I do stuff!”

Lucy tilted her head and stared at Alex. She waited.

Alex fidgeted under her stare. Sometimes Lucy really didn’t understand where the legendary (and terrifying) reputation that Danvers had around the DEO had come from. She was a hot mess of a marshmallow.

“I have my bike! And my lab!”

“You have maintenance and _your job_ , Danvers. And reading bio-medical journals doesn’t count as a hobby either. When was the last time you went to a museum? Caught a movie? _Went on a date_?”

Alex made a face.

“The last date you went on was with Lord wasn’t it.”

“That was _not_ a date.”

“He thought it was a date,” Lucy smirked. “I would have too, if I’d seen you in that dress.”

“ _Kara sent you the pictures?!_ ”

Lucy threw her head back and laughed at the look of utter betrayal on Alex’s face. It was absolutely amazing in all the best of ways.

“That wasn’t a date.”

“I can’t believe you even wear black on dates. Is that the only color you own?”

Lucy took another drink and perked up. She looked back towards the bed. “Hey which one’s your closet? I need to know how much time to schedule for an intervention.”

“Lucy no.”

“Also your lingerie drawer. Black looks good on you, but red would look so much better.”

Lucy stood up a little unsteadily and headed over. Alex nearly knocked over her stool racing to stop her.

“Lucy, _no_ , you are not digging through my drawers.”

“Lucy, _yes_ ,” Lucy cackled.

“I swear to god, Lane, I will kick your ass.”

“You can try, Danvers. But you’ve gotten soft in the city.”

Alex snorted, bodily dragging Lucy back towards the couch, bypassing the kitchen entirely. “I’m soft? You’re the one with a perfect manicure.”

“I just have so much more free time without your sister flying in.”

Alex shoved Lucy onto the plush couch. “Shut it, Lane. You miss it and you know it.”

“I do,” Lucy agreed. “Do you know what the USPS guidelines for mailing bats are? I’m sure Kara misses Vlad. I could send him for a visit.”

“You named it?”

“I named my favorite vibrator, Danvers, of course I named the bat.”

Lucy’s smile widened at the reddening of Alex’s ears.

“And just when was the last time _you_ went on a date, Lane?”

“A date-date or a hookup? Because those are two _very_ different things.”

“Both? Either? I mean, you’re so intent on my dating life, I’m beginning to think you’re upset you can’t live vicariously through me.”

Lucy eyed Alex as she relaxed against the cushions, all long and lean without the stresses of the past few days, though that worry line between her brows was still present, thanks to Kara. “Oh, trust me, Danvers, the word you’re looking for is _vigorously_.”

“Seriously.”

“Fine.” Lucy shrugged. “Last hookup was the flight to DC.”

“The flight-flight?”

“Yes, the flight-flight. Are we middle schoolers again, Danvers?”

“You hooked up on the flight?”

Lucy snorted. “The mile high club is a thing, Danvers, and far more pleasant than getting bare-assed on the side of a mountain.”

“Wait, on a—nevermind. The plane. _With who_?”

“Stewardess.”

“They’re called attendants now, Lane, I’m sure the guy didn’t appreciate you calling him a woman.”

“Alex, honey, I used the feminine form.”

Alex’s face was a journey as she processed Lucy’s words. When her eyes widened and came to rest on Lucy’s face, Lucy made the executive decision to stretch. Slowly, and with great pleasure, moaning as her joints popped. Her arms stretched out over her head, causing her shirt to rise and Alex’s eyes to drop.

“Really, Danvers, if that’s something I have to explain to you, I’m going to need another drink.”

“No,” Alex squeaked. “No. I’m good. Um. Catch a movie? You can crash here.”

“I’m not a fan of couches.”

Alex stuttered. “No, I mean, we’re big girls, we can share the bed.”

“I call dibs on big spoon.”

“Like hell, Tinkerbell.”

Lucy froze. “Take. That. Back.”

Alex leaned forward, suddenly brave. “Make. Me.”

Lucy lunged, aiming to put Alex in headlock. Alex was ready for her though, and the tables were quickly turned. Alex had Lucy flush against her, arm locked around Lucy’s throat and her hips. She barely reacted when Lucy kicked her shins, but Alex’s entire body flinched when Lucy’s fingers grazed her ribs.

Lucy reached up to tug at the arm around her neck, “Don’t make me bite you, Danvers.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” Alex laughed.

Lucy’s fingers found that spot again, this time on purpose. Alex’s entire body jerked, and Lucy managed to slip free, causing them both to topple onto the floor. “I knew you’d be a kinky one. It’s always the quiet ones.”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “You never shut up, does that mean you’re boring?”

Lucy smirked. “Name the time and place, and I’d be glad to show you, Alex.”

Alex lunged. Hands wandered as they tried to find purchase, wrestling and bumping against Alex’s furniture as they flipped and spun. Lucy wasn’t above cheating and reaching for that ticklish spot, especially since Alex would never find her own. There was a reason Lucy rarely took her shoes off.

By the time their little war was over, Lucy’s ribs ached and it felt a bit like the last time she tried to make up for missing too many workouts. She came to rest straddling Alex’s abs, pinning her to the ground, and Lucy was trying very hard not to get distracted.

“Say it, Danvers.”

“Never.”

“Say it.”

Lucy forced Alex’s wrists together over her head so that Lucy could have a hand free. There was a spot on Alex’s right side, just above her hip, that had proven to be her weak point.

There was a chance Lucy would be sent flying by Alex’s bucking hips if she wasn’t careful. That was, after all, how they’d ended up on the floor in the first place.

This time though, Lucy was ready for it. Alex was at her mercy, and she had none.

“Say it, Danvers.”

“ _Fine!_ Fine, you little goblin! I’ll say it!”

Lucy waited, eyebrows raised and definitely not concentrating on the heaving rise and fall of Alex’s chest.

“Lucy Lane is better than me.”

“You better not forget it, Danvers.”

“I’ll get my revenge, Lane.” Alex muttered. “You’re mine on Thursday.”

Lucy leaned down to Alex’s ear. She let her lips graze them once, twice, three times, until that blush made itself known again. “We don’t have to wait that long for you to be under me again, Danvers, all you have to do is ask.”

 

* * *

 

 

Alex’s little excursion to find the mole was without authorization, and without backup. She could have been killed, and Lucy would never have known until it was too late if Winn hadn’t called her, just after she’d gotten home. Lucy had only just removed her tac belt when her phone started to ring.

“Lane.”

“Lucy, thank god!”

“Winn? What’s up, you sound stressed.”

“Alex and I figured out how to trace the mole. Trace elements of Kryptonite infect anything that comes in contact with it, including uniforms and gear.”

Lucy froze, hand on the belt she’d just dropped. “Did you track it down?”

“We went through the locker rooms, yeah.”

“And?”

“Alex set up a sting. Guy’s gear lit up like crazy.”

Lucy picked up her belt and slipped it back on. “Which teams are running backup?”

“So that’s just it. I can’t reach J’onn or Kara, so I called you. Alex doesn’t _have_ backup.”

“Send me the coordinates, Schott,” Lucy growled. “And realize you and I are going to have a talk soon.”

It’s a trap, because of course it is. Their mole is dead on the ground and there are CADMUS agents everywhere when Lucy makes it to the coordinates Winn sent her. She had to move carefully, taking out one man at a time before she could get an eye on Alex and the older woman she assumed had something to do with all of this.

Lucy held her gun at the ready, watching as Jeremiah’s fate was dangled in front of Alex like meat in front of a rabid dog.

Thankfully, Alex had a little more sense than that.

Lucy knew the pain of losing a parent, knew it ran even deeper in Alex Danvers, whose father was very much present and loving. Lucy also knew that there was one _person_ on this planet that Alex Danvers would risk everything for, and that was not her father.

No, even fighting, Kara and Alex Danvers were inseparable.

It was nice to have the confirmation though, that her father wouldn’t be enough to turn Alex into the next Lex Luthor. There were _clearly_ enough mad scientists in the world, the last thing the DEO needed was an evil genius of Danvers’ caliber.

Lucy laid down cover fire for Alex to make her escape.

Alex bolted towards the first goon down to grab his gun, ducking around a crate before exchanging fire herself.

Lucy cursed loudly when Ms. CADMUS disappeared in the smoky haze of gunfire, knowing that the backup she had called for wouldn’t catch her. The only thing she and Alex could do was keep more Kryptonite from falling into CADMUS’s hands and keep as many CADMUS operatives from escaping as they could.

Also not die, actually.

Which was harder than it looked in movies, harder even than Afghanistan had been, with splintering wood, shrapnel, and ricochets flying everywhere.

Lucy wasn’t wearing her vest. She didn’t have it on her when she’d gotten home, and she didn’t take the time to grab it before coming to save Alex’s ass. And with the adrenaline pumping, Lucy didn’t even notice it at first.

She noticed the smear she left after leaning on a crate.

She ducked down, gently poking at her side.

“Fuck,” she hissed.

Through and through, likely didn’t hit anything major, but she needed medical attention sooner rather than later. Luckily enough, she had a doctor on hand, if she could stop screwing around with the bad guys.

Cover fire. Duck and roll. Fire. Every step became harder as she compartmentalized, making her way towards the last place she’d seen Danvers shooting from.

She ducked around another set of crates and came face to face with a gun. Thankfully, Alex was behind it, and she didn’t pull the trigger.

“I’m going to kick your ass later,” Lucy panted.

Alex pulled Lucy to the ground and out of the way of more gunfire. Alex sheltered Lucy with her entire body, but for once, Lucy wasn’t in a position to enjoy it.

Alex sat up to return fire, but paused. She stared at her hand, horrified, before looking back down at Lucy. “Luce?”

“’Tis but a flesh wound.”

“Fuck, Lucy, you need to put pressure on that.”

Lucy fully agreed with that statement, but things were getting fuzzy around the edges, and she wasn’t in much shape to help. Alex couldn’t do it, because CADMUS agents were still actively trying to kill them.

Thankfully, it was only moments before the cavalry arrived.

Lucy fell into unconsciousness still murmuring threats against Alex’s life.

 

* * *

 

 

She woke up in care of Dr. Hamilton, with a bruised Alex Danvers passed out next to her. It was a through and through, with mandatory medical leave that Lucy had every intention of ignoring in favor of the piles of paperwork waiting for her in the desert. She fell asleep again without ever having disturbed Alex.

But Lucy didn’t have the option of skipping medical leave, not really. By the time she woke again and was cleared to leave, all hell had broken out all over again.   

Metropolis had its own Million Dollar Man as a suicide bomber. Lucy spent hours shuffling around assignments to get disaster clean up teams deployed and ready to assist. Lucy and Vasquez spent more time speeding through requisitions and temporary personnel transfer forms than Lucy had seen in the entire time at the DEO.

She almost went with them.

Lois was in Metropolis, likely on the ground. If CADMUS chose to strike again, chose to keep Superman busy far away from National City, Lois would be in more danger than ever. Everyone knew about Superman’s feelings for Lois, even if they didn’t know he was also Clark Kent. Lucy herself had made jokes about their little arrangement.

In the end, she chose to stay behind. Chose was probably working fast and loose with language, considering she was benched to desk duty. But paperwork could be done anywhere, and there was a lot to be said about the views in Metropolis.

Then J’onn flew off to fight Green Terminator Number 2 in Metropolis with Superman while Agent Badass backed up her sister.

But of course, no one actually _told_ Lucy this. Lucy was left in the dark in the desert until Pam called for approval on something trivial, mentioning that J’onn and Alex were both out of the office. Alex and J’onn were never out of the office at the same time. One was an alien and one spent her life trying to _keep up_ with a solar powered alien of her own.

Lucy immediately had Vasquez on it, but one threatening call to Winn was all it took. She pulled rank and he folded. He told her everything about Superman’s plan and J’onn’s disguise, about Alex in that superpowered armor.

Superman was right to worry about the Kryptonite, because Lucy was going to kill every one of them.

She was going to kill them very slowly and take her time doing it.

Alex would be first.

Of the four, Alex was _human_ and a few pieces of metal only made her bulletproof for so long. Alex was squishy and vulnerable, and she wouldn’t heal under sunlamps.

Lucy was very tempted to kill Winn for encouraging Danvers’ reckless behavior, but then she would lose her inside source, _since everyone seemed to forget she was still in charge_.

Lucy had a very long video conference with Pam after getting off the phone with Winn. New protocols for the NC office were going into effect immediately. Both the CO and the 2IC of the branch would no longer be allowed in the field on _any_ op, save for the most dire of world-saving requirements such as Myriad and the total destruction of the planet.

Alex Danvers would have to put in regular hours in that stupid suit to ensure she stayed at the top of her game, and there would have to be constant review and revision of its safety. It would also require regular maintenance checks and upgrades, as available.

If Alex, or any other agent, planned on putting their ass on the line with such frequency, Lucy was going to do her damnedest to ensure they came home to their friends and family at the end of the day. Even if she had to do it one piece of red tape at a time.

Pam refused to include the provision that failure to comply with regulations would be met with a slow and painful death at the hands of the Director.

That was fair, putting it in writing would likely be a violation of human rights and at least one or more of the Geneva conventions.

Besides, this way Lucy maintained plausible deniability if Supergirl came looking for her very dead sister.

Said sister showed up that evening with a bottle of _very_ expensive bourbon and a sheepish smile.

“I hear you’re mad at me?”

Lucy held the door mostly closed, leaving just enough room for her head to rest on the doorframe. “Mad is an understatement, Danvers.”

“We got the bad guy though.”

“At what cost? You could have been killed, Supergirl would have gone off the rails, and my friend count in this dumpster fire of a city would be down to my ex and his new best friend.”

Alex grimaced. “Yeah, that would be bad.”

Lucy snorted and pushed back, leaving the door open behind her.

“Does this mean I can come in?”

“Thanks for checking consent, Danvers. My safeword is _Sam_.”

Alex froze halfway through the door. “Your safe word is your father’s name?”

“Immediate buzzkill, seems to do the trick.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to think about my father while in bed with someone.”

“Don’t you realize bad fathers are metaphorically in the bed of every girl with daddy issues?” Lucy asked.

“Lucy?”

Lucy stole the bottle from Alex and took great pleasure in cracking the seal. She poured herself a full highballer and two fingers for Alex. The burn was immediate. She waved the other glass at Alex, sliding into a seat and motioning for Alex to do the same.

“Don’t worry, Danvers. I won’t make you sit through it, I can’t afford to pay you _and_ my therapist.”

“Speaking of doctors, how’s your side?”

“I’ll be buying stock in Mederma to wear a bikini next summer, but I’ll be fine.”

“Thank you for that. For having my back, I mean.”

“Where the fuck was your sister?” Lucy asked.

“She came in with the backup you called, brought you back to the DEO. She and Clark had been doing cleanup.”

“You’re going to go through so many training modules for pulling that shit, Danvers.”

“Yeah, I know. J’onn benched me as soon as Metallo was handled.”

“Good.” Lucy downed half of her remaining drink. “You could have been killed.”

“I found the mole.”

“And now we have no chance to flip him. Any other moles will go underground, which will make it all the more likely we won’t see the next betrayal coming.”

Alex slumped over. “I fucked up.”

“You fucked up.” Lucy sighed and swung an arm over Alex’s shoulders. “How are things with Kara?”

“We talked a bit, after Metallo. She’s staying.”

“If it helps, I didn’t really think she’d leave.”

“We’ve looked out for each other for so long, it just really threw me that she’d even consider it, you know?”

Lucy’s sister had walked out after her mother’s death and never looked back. She and Lois had been pretty close before their mother got sick, but the more their father tightened the reins, the more Lois bucked the saddle. She and her sister had a lot of burned bridges between them, pillaged by time and festering wounds that never quite healed.

She offered a bittersweet smile to her best friend. “You’d do anything for each other. You’re just self-sacrificing idiots, that’s why you end up in situations like this.”

“It feels like Red K all over again.”

“Speaking of Red K,” Lucy hummed. “Any word from Lord?”

“Why would he contact me?”

“He spent a year mooning over you, Danvers. That, and trying to kill your sister. Then his company just magically packs up and leaves town?”

Alex frowned into her glass. Her finger tapped idly at the rim, the slight tip of her nail clacking against the glass. “You think something’s happened to him?”

“That’s what my father implied. He mentioned CADMUS and the mole in the same breath.”

“Fuck,” Alex cursed. “I’ll have Winn start digging in the morning.”

“Not going to run off back to work?”

“I came here to apologize, Lane.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows. She motioned for Alex to continue.

“No, really. I’m sorry, Luce. You saved my ass and got hurt doing it, and I can’t apologize enough.”

“I’m not letting you off desk duty or training.”

Alex laughed. Lucy tried hard not to get distracted by her wide smile, something rarely seen away from Kara. Alex relaxed, her smile sliding into a mischievous grin. “I never thought the apology would do it, but I hoped the bourbon would.”

Lucy took a long sip, rolling the liquor over her tongue. She inhaled, letting the air dance across the liquid, its flavors opening up and bursting into life. She swallowed slowly, feeling the burn all the way down. She traced her lips to catch the rest of the bourbon, and if it caught Alex’s attention, even better.

She threw back the rest of the glass. “Yeah, no. It’s not _that_ good.”

 

* * *

 

 

Five in the morning was a little too early for Lucy to expect company. Danvers or Vasquez showed up occasionally to drag her ass to work after a little too much fun the night before, once in a blue moon Kara would show up with donuts “just because,” but most people knew better than to approach Lucy before nine am. Danvers was bribable, hand her a coffee and she’d be human soon enough. Lucy was different. She could get up and be functional at the ass crack of dawn out of habit and necessity from the army. That did _not_ make her a morning person.

It barely made her a person.

Apparently Clark hadn’t quite figured that one out yet.

Lucy stared blankly at her brother-in-law’s clean shaven face, trying desperately to jump start her brain and figure out what he could possibly want so early in the morning.

“Hey, Luce. Can I come in really quick? I won’t be long.”

Lucy stepped back, keeping a hand on the door so that she could shut it behind him. When she turned to face him again, he stood nervously next to her breakfast bar, fidgeting with his glasses the same way Kara did. Lucy crossed her arms and waited.

“I wanted to apologize.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry I—we, I’m sorry _we_ didn’t tell you I’m Superman.”

“It’s your secret to keep.”

“Yeah, but we should have trusted you. You’re Lois’ sister. That should mean something.”

Lucy snorted. “Lois and I may be sisters, but we are no Alex and Kara Danvers. It is what it is, Clark.”

He grimaced. “She does miss you, you know.”

“She had years to reach out. She didn’t. That’s not your problem.”

“I don’t want this to get in the way of fixing that.”

“I’m not going to hold her keeping your secrets against her, Clark.” Lucy sighed, tightening her arms. “She’s your wife. That’s understandable.”

Lucy paused.

“Jimmy, however, is a dead man.”

Clark’s smile froze. “I don’t suppose he can claim best friend privilege?”

“Oh, no. You get one pass, Clark. You should have told me, or Lois should have. But our father caused you a lot of pain, and you don’t know me, not really. I’m pissed I didn’t figure it out, I’m hurt you didn’t tell me, but _you don’t know me_. Jimmy _does_.”

“Can I give him a head start?”

Lucy snorted. “You and I both know that man isn’t smart enough to run.”

“Well, he’ll regret it if he doesn’t,” Clark laughed.

Lucy relaxed enough to come and sit at the bar, waving for Clark to take the other seat. Her coffee had cooled, but she needed to drink it. It was way too early to deal with such heavy conversation. “You’re going home today?”

“Yeah. I need to get back to work before Perry fires me.”

Lucy laughed. “Is being a hardass a requirement for being a media mogul? Because I lasted like, two weeks with Cat Grant.”

“I’m sure you lasted longer than that.”

“Sure,” Lucy agreed. “But then the world went to hell with Astra and Non, and the witch hunt for J’onn. So DEO it is.”

He nudged her shoulder. “You like it more than working for your dad though, right?”

“I like making a _positive_ difference, yes. And there’s never a dull moment, unless I’m on the Capitol.”

Clark snickered. It wasn’t just the DEO Clark avoided these days. He might be friendly to the residents of Metropolis, but as far as officials went, he ignored every requested meeting with the Senate Armed Forces Committee, with the President, and really anyone in charge.

“If you’re ever in Metropolis, I’m sure Lois would love to catch up.”

Lucy’s eyebrows shot up. She stared at Clark in disbelief, holding her tongue but just barely.

He laughed outright and raised his hands in surrender. “She really would. She might not act like it, but she _does_ miss you. And I’d be there as a buffer.”

“I think I need a buffer that doesn’t run away at the hint of a siren.”

“So bring Alex,” he offered.

She ignored his smirk and drained her cup. “Alright, it’s been fun, the air’s been cleared, but I need to get dressed for work and you only get to see one Lane naked.”

Clark sputtered and blushed, and sometimes it really was too easy. He let her pull him out of his seat and shove him towards the door. She opened it for him and leaned against the edge. “Thanks for coming by, Clark. I do appreciate it.”

Clark smiled and opened his arms. “C’mon, Luce, we’ve been bonding. Don’t I at least get a hug?”

Lucy rolled her eyes but leaned into his embrace. Alex was right, he really _did_ smell good. She pulled away with a sigh. “Nine in the city, Clark, if J’onn didn’t tell you.”

Clark frowned in confusion.

“Show up at the city base at nine. We need to discuss the big green elephant in the room.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

 

* * *

 

 

She was in office by seven, sitting with J’onn and nursing another cup of coffee.

“He has a point, Major. Astra and Non are gone. Keeping the stockpile with CADMUS around creates a serious risk for more moles and attacks that could seriously damage the DEO.”

“You think there’s another mole?” Lucy asked.

“I think I’d be a fool to think there wasn’t.”

Lucy clenched her jaw and looked off to the side. “We do this, and we have _zero_ protection if anything happens. We don’t know if CADMUS has more of Lord’s Red K, we don’t know if they’ve got more Kryptonians they’ve been experimenting with… we have no defense. Hell, we have no way of getting a needle into Kara if something goes wrong!”

J’onn nodded. “These are all very real concerns. But Agent Danvers and Schott are working with her team to create red sun replicators. Schott’s still working on refining the anti-kryptonite technology, and if we _do this_ , Superman will be more willing to work with us.”

“I am going to get so much shit for this the next time I’m in DC,” Lucy groaned.

J’onn laughed at her. Lucy loved his laugh. It was a deep chuckle that shook his shoulders, and so, so rare. “I have all faith that you can handle it, Major Lane.”

Lucy stuck out her tongue. “We’re keeping the training rooms so we can keep Kara training.”

“As the lawyer on staff, I’ll defer to you to argue that one.”

“You’re an asshole, J’onn J’onzz.”

He smiled at her. Because he was an asshole.

“Here it is, almost all of the Kryptonite on earth encased in lead,” said J’onn, waving at the large case being wheeled in.

“Almost?” asked Superman.

Lucy shrugged. “We’re keeping the green rooms. Danvers needs a place to keep Supergirl on her toes with training, and she’s the only one with controls to the room.”

Superman glanced between Alex and Supergirl. Supergirl smiled and nodded.

“That’s fine, I guess, so long as that’s _all_ ,” he said. “I trust Alex.”

Alex nodded, “We’re working on red sun simulation lamps. As soon as we can get them up and running without the risk of giving everyone cancer, we’ll remove the Kryptonite from the green rooms from both bases and get that to you as well.”

“I trust you’ll do the right thing with it, Superman,” said J’onn.

“Thank you.”

J’onn and Superman shook hands, both wearing the smallest of smiles. Supergirl nearly vibrated with excitement at the sight of them getting along, looking more like Kara Danvers that National City’s Superhero. Alex hid her smile with a slight cough.

Lucy rolled her eyes at everyone.

“I’m going to miss you, Winn.”

“Oh!” Winn said, hurrying forward to hug his latest crush. “Next time, let’s… Let’s… Let’s really hang out.”

“Yeah!”

Alex was suddenly struck with a coughing fit. Even J’onn smiled at the way Winn had trouble meeting Superman’s eyes.

Lucy’s eyes danced. Winn was a very sweet, but very hot mess. At least this time, Kara didn’t have to remind him to let go.

“Alex,” Superman hugged her as well. “I will do everything I can to find Jeremiah, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Alex replied softly.

“Lucy—”

“I’m good, Superman. No hug needed.”

He laughed and turned to Kara.

“Kao-shuh,” she said.

Winn leaned into Alex and whispered. “What… What’s that mean?”

The Supers heard him anyway.

Superman frowned. “There’s not really a word for it in English. I guess the closest thing would be…”

He made a face and paused, looking to Supergirl for confirmation. “To be continued?”

Supergirl nodded proudly.

Superman nodded once more to J’onn, reached for the case of Kryptonite, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Alex pursed her lips at the slightly crestfallen look on her sister’s face. “Dinner tonight? Pizza and Potstickers?”

Supergirl shook her head. “No, thanks, Alex. I think I’ll go check on our survivor and then go say goodbye to Cat.”

Supergirl walked slowly towards containment, and J’onn and Winn returned to work, leaving Alex and Lucy standing alone together in the center of the DEO.

“Is Kara going to be okay?”

“I think so,” Alex shrugged. “It’s just a lot of change. She’s not great at it.”

“Yeah, I remember. Let me know if she needs anything?”

“Sure.” Alex nodded. “Are you going back to the desert?”

“Yeah. I think it’s going to be a late night.”

“Want me to swing through with a pizza later? I’m pretty handy with paperwork.”

Lucy laughed. “I would love you forever for the pizza, Alex, but Pam would kill me if I let you do _any_ of the paperwork.”

Alex was horrible at looking innocent, and it was the most adorable thing Lucy had ever seen.

 


	3. Episode 3: The Contortionist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is tired of things blowing up around her. She also territorial of her friends and takes great pleasure in being a little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo, so this one wound up being a little shorter than average... but I think you'll all enjoy it.
> 
> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

 

****

****

****

**The Contortionist**

 

Lucy stared at the damage. Really, they should have expected this, glass and medical supplies everywhere, dents in the walls, a shattered medical bed. The damage to the monitoring equipment _alone_ would cost upwards of $200,000. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up, inhaling deeply through her nose.

She counted to ten slowly before letting it out equally slowly and opening her eyes into narrow slits.

“Who’s idea was it to keep him in the building _made of glass_ ,” she hissed. “Instead of the underground bunker designed to _prevent prisoners from escaping_?”

“He wasn’t a prisoner, Major.”

Lucy cut her eyes to J’onn. “He was being monitored because we weren’t sure if he’d be a problem when he woke up.”

She waved her hands at the mess. “Hey, look, _a problem.”_

Alex snorted. “Since when are you for unlawful imprisonment?”

“Since I have to get the repairs budget approved,” Lucy grumbled. “Do we know where he went?”

“No. We have Schott scanning the traffic cams with his facial recognition software, but as of right now, nothing.”

“Do we have confirmation he’s Kryptonian?”

Alex shook her head.

Lucy glanced around. She’d have to pay extra to get this cleaned up by tomorrow, even going inhouse. “The president lands in the morning. Get this place cleaned up so I can get maintenance in here.”

She didn’t storm out, that would have been unprofessional. She walked briskly out of containment and towards the command center, with Alex on her heels.

“Lucy-”

Lucy spun on her heel, “You know better, Alex. Why was he here?”

Alex grimaced.

“Right, Kara. Of course,” Lucy snorted.

“He’s the last of her kind.”

“Allegedly, Agent Danvers. And _clearly_ a danger to society _._ ”

“Yeah, I know, Luce. We fucked up.”

“ _The President of the United States_ is coming tomorrow.”

Lucy turned to go bother Winn, but a hand on her arm stopped her. Alex was discreet, thankfully, but Lucy knew the crew in here would have ignored it, even if she hadn’t been.

“How long has it been since you went home and slept, Lucy?”

“I’ve been prepping for the President’s visit, Danvers.”

“Yeah, _Lane_ , I’m aware. I’m also aware that you have a good team over there, _and one here_ , that would gladly take some of the load off your perfectionist ass.”

“I _knew_ you thought my ass was perfect,” Lucy smirked.

Alex laughed, her head thrown back. She smiled fondly and punched Lucy’s shoulder, “Go home, you little shit. I’ll keep you updated on our missing alien. But I don’t want you back at _either_ base until you get some sleep.”

“You _do_ know you’re only an _acting_ director in case of emergency, right?”

“You on the edge of a rampage _is_ an emergency, Lane,” Alex leaned in to smirk. “Your Napoleon complex is showing.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes and spun on her heel to leave. If she stomped on Alex’s foot on the way out, well, that was Alex’s word against hers.

Alex could be quite creative when cursing.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy felt refreshed and ready to go come morning. Her uniform was pressed, her shoes shined, and not a hair out of place while she waited for the President to disembark from Air Force One. She caught Supergirl bouncing in excitement out of the corner of her eye, and it took all of her training to keep from snickering.

She didn’t resist tilting her head toward Agent Danvers. “Did _she_ sleep?”

“The better question, Major, is _did I?_ ” Alex snorted. “The answer is _no_.”

Alex did look tired. She hid it well, but Lucy could see it in the slightest droop in Alex’s shoulders and the tilt of her lips. The three stifled yawns in the past five minutes didn’t help the impression.

“Doing _what_?”

“She changed her outfit 37 times.”

Lucy turned to stare at her friend in blatant disbelief. “She’s wearing _her supersuit_.”

“She has three copies, apparently.”

“What’s the difference?”

“There isn’t one,” Alex shrugged.

The door opened, and both of them turned their focus to the task at hand. Lucy, to watching the President’s approach; Alex to watching everyone else.

Everything seemed fine. The small crowd was nearly as excited as Supergirl, all of them vetted, most of them under twelve. The press corps was behaving themselves. Protesters of the Amnesty Act were relegated to space outside of the airstrip for safety. Everything seemed to be going well.

And yet.

“Danvers?”

“You feel it too?” Alex asked quietly.

Madam President stepped up to the podium to greet the crowd, and of course, that was when shit hit the fan. An alien armed with fire, because _of course_ they couldn’t be humans. Lucy bolted towards the secret service agents while Alex ran headfirst into danger. As agents dropped, Lucy hurried President Marsden to the bulletproof car waiting.

Supergirl saved her from roasting as she closed the door behind the president’s remaining guard. Lucy didn’t have time to thank her, as Supergirl followed behind the limo and Lucy switched gears to getting the rest of the civilians out of the line of fire.

It felt like hours, much like every battlefield she’d ever been on, but it was over in minutes. The tarmac was a mess, Air Force One was visibly damaged, and their attackers had gotten away.

Lucy was getting really tired of people blowing shit up on her watch.

 

* * *

 

 

She was coordinating clean up and PR with Vasquez by her side while Alex handled the collection of evidence. She wasn’t particularly thrilled to be dealing with either, but Vasquez showed up of their own accord and started handling things, and Alex had split off to do much the same after checking in. She hadn’t delegated responsibility so much as it had been delegated _for her_ , and Lucy was certain that Alex had something to do with it.

“Ma’am?”

“Vasquez?”

“Check your phone, legal emailed a response for the PR team. They need you to sign off before it’s passed along.”

Lucy nodded, pulling out her government-approved phone. It was much the same as she expected, vague statements about the safety of the President and the crowd, a mention of anti-amnesty protesters, and a description of the person of interest. Lucy was happy to note there was no mention of alien involvement outside of Supergirl’s presence. The last thing she needed was a PR nightmare.

She glanced up to check on the CIs. She frowned and looked around. “Hey, Vas, where’d Danvers go?”

Vas pointed to an area closer to the plane.

“Who the hell is that?”

Vas shrugged. “Whoever it is, it looks like Danvers is dealing with it.”

Danvers had her hands on her hips, projecting federal agent and power in a way that Supergirl could only ever hope to emulate. Lucy watched as both women prickled, leaning into each other’s space as they argued. Badges were shown, and Lucy hoped to god that Alex not only hit the button but held it upright this time.

Danvers was one of the best agents the DEO had ever seen, but sometimes she was an embarrassing mess.

Whatever the conversation was, it pissed them both off. The shorter one got in one last line before leaving, and Alex stomped off to yell at a CI, complete with sweeping hand motions.

Vasquez paused next to Lucy. “Well, at least we don’t have to bury a body.”

Lucy snorted.

She glanced back at the frustrated Danvers one last time before returning to the mess of PR and clean up. She had _just_ gotten budgets straightened out, the numbers running through her head were just one giant headache. Freshly printed NDA’s arrived with Vasquez, and Lucy was stuck ensuring that every member of the press signed the damn things after handing over their equipment for “National Security,” Lucy’s least favorite excuse.

If news got out that an alien attacked the President on the eve of the Alien Amnesty Act, there would be hell to pay. Putting the fear of god into members of the press could be fun, but she wasn’t enjoying the crying kids, or the angry parents.

She didn’t sign up to be a damn babysitter.

Then one of the children, hysterical and crying, puked on her.

Lucy saw Vasquez stifling a laugh and vowed that no snack would be safe. She’d take her vengeance out one Twinkie at a time.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy sat in a chair next to Winn’s station, nearly all professionalism gone as soon as the President left. She’d changed into the much more comfortable DEO uniform, but she’d kicked her boots off under the desk and slumped in the chair. The day had already dragged on way too long, but she was hanging around waiting for Danvers show up after her raid.

Danvers would come back with their missing alien or not, but Lucy comforted herself with the knowledge that at least the idiot had taken backup this time. Lucy’s side ached badly after all of the excitement, and she really, really wanted a drink.

Danvers was usually up for one, provided it wasn’t Sister Night.

Besides, Lucy wanted to hear about the confrontation on the tarmac first hand after being handed three separate complaints from CIs about Agent Danvers harassing them.

She wasn’t disappointed.

The other agents gave Danvers a wide berth as they returned. Lucy was so proud, Alex even had her tac helmet in hand, although Lucy wasn’t betting she’d actually worn it. Lucy wasn’t the only one waiting though, as Supergirl caught up with Alex before she made it into the control room to report.

Once again, discretion was not in the Danvers name, and they were practically shouting at each other in the middle of the DEO. Lucy had a great view.

“I know. I know what you’re gonna say,” Alex said, already holding a finger up in her sister’s direction, “I should have waited for you.”

“No, I was going to say ‘You should have waited for me, _dummy_ ,’” said Supergirl.

Lucy shared a glance with Winn.

“What if he’d actually been there? What would you have done?”

“My job!”

Supergirl looked away, clenching her fists. Alex stared her down, unflinching.

Supergirl let out a frustrated huff. “Make smarter choices next time.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” mocked Alex.

She stomped towards Lucy, practically throwing her helmet at a low-level agent. Winn made himself scarce at the look on Alex’s face, and she slumped into the now-empty chair.

“You’re in a mood.”

“He wasn’t there.”

“Yeah, I gathered that by the lack of male-presenting humanoid in handcuffs.”

Alex’s glare was much less impressive when she was tired. “He wasn’t, but that cop was.”

“Wait,” Lucy perked up. “What cop?”

“Some Detective Sawyer. Short, brunette, leather jacket. She tried to claim jurisdiction at the airport,” Alex huffed. “Pft. As if some local leo would handle an attack on the President.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows.

“You know she asked if all Feds watched the same movies at Quantico?”

“You _were_ wearing an off the rack suit.”

Lucy laughed when Alex tried to shove her, only to send her wheeled chair in the opposite direction. Agent Danvers was less than intimidating while attempting to scoot a chair around.

“Not all of us have office money and a taste for the finer things, Lane.”

“Oh, I think you’d develop a taste if you just opened yourself up to it,” Lane murmured.

“Lane, shut-”

Alex’s phone rang. She shared a confused glance with Lucy before glancing down at the unknown number. She picked it up, “Danvers.”

Lucy was either close enough to hear it over the quiet hum of the DEO, or Alex was deaf and had the volume jacked up. Considering her normal playlist, Lucy leaned toward it being the latter.

“Want to see how us local cops deal with the aliens?”

“Sure, Sawyer,” Alex smirked. “Show me where the magic happens.”

“Great. I’ll text you the address. Try not to look like a Fed when you get here.”

The cop, Lucy guessed, hung up on Alex without waiting for a response, and Alex looked mildly insulted on all counts.

“When did she get your number?”

Alex looked up from her phone. “I gave it to her in case she got another ‘tip’ so I didn’t accidentally shoot her at the next scene.”

“I’ll bet she’s got a tip for you,” Lucy snorted.

“What are you talking about, Lane?”

“How many accidental dates do you go on, do you think?”

“It’s not a date, Lucy, she’s taking me to her source.”

“Told you not to dress like a Fed. It’s a date.”

“Sources don’t like cops,” Alex countered.

“I’m really impressed at your game, Danvers, I mean, really, you picked up a woman after arguing who was _top_ of the jurisdictional food chain, and she’s the one asking you out.” Lucy whistled. “Is that your approach to men too?”

“It’s not a date, Lane.”

“Mmmhmmm. Sure it’s not.” Lucy laughed and bent to put on her shoes. “Swing by my place after. I want to hear all about your not-date.”

 

* * *

 

 

Alex shoved past Lucy and into the apartment. “It wasn’t a date.”

“Well hello, fancy pants. You take your bike there to impress her?”

“My bike is faster.”

Lucy shut the door behind her. She took the time to rake her eyes up from Alex’s boots, over her skin-tight jeans, the zipped jacket, to Alex’s disheveled hair. “Well, you definitely don’t look like a Fed.”

“It wasn’t a date, Lucy.”

Lucy raised her eyes, entertained that, yet again, the status as a date was what Alex was focused on. She waved in the direction of Alex, “No one isn’t interested in all that, Danvers. Not a damn person.”

Alex grabbed a beer out of Lucy’s fridge. “Straight women?”

“She told you she was straight?”

“No-well- _fuck_.” Alex hit her head on the inside of the fridge. “How the fuck did you find an apartment with a fridge sized for midgets?”

“I told my realtor inability to reach the freezer was a dealbreaker,” deadpanned Lucy.

“ _Anyway_ , it wasn’t a date. Turns out her source is a bar. An _alien_ bar.”

“She took you on a date to an alien bar? Kinky.”

“Her ex is a _Roltikkon_. They make psychic connections by physical contact of the tongue! Maggie said that’s how she learned English.”

 _She_. Lucy forced a smile. “She have any languages to teach you, Danvers?”

“What? Where? Pft!” Alex sputtered. “It wasn’t a date.”

“Good, because that would mean my game is slacking.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Do you want another beer? I want another beer.”

“Please, by all means, Danvers. Raid my fridge, and _yes_ , bring me a beer, considering I didn’t have _a first one_.”

“You could have drank while you were waiting for me,” Alex laughed.

She walked back around the island and took a seat next to Lucy, knocking shoulders. She offered an open bottle to Lucy, clinking the necks gently after Lucy took it.

Lucy shoved her loose hair out of her face. “Drinking alone is sad and the gateway to alcoholism. Drinking with you is being social.”

Alex squinted. “Are you trying to imply something?”

“Nope,” Lucy grinned.

“My ass, you’re not.”

Lucy leaned to the side to get a better view, “It _is_ quite the ass, Danvers.”

Alex’s ears were red. Lucy hadn’t lost all of her game, clearly.

“I hate you, Lane.”

“You love me and you know it.”

Alex smiled and laughed softly into her beer. She took a swig, and bumped shoulders with Lucy. “Yeah, you’re alright sometimes, when you’re not a pain in my ass.”

Lucy opened her mouth.

Alex put a hand in front of it. “Don’t. Just don’t.”  

Lucy licked Alex’s hand.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy had a rough morning. Too many beers with Alex meant that forgetting to close the curtains before bed. It was a good thing she did, considering she’d slept through three alarms and four phone calls from Alex since 6am.

She squinted at the phone, groaned, and called for an Uber. She wasn’t driving in today.

She stumbled into the control room twenty minutes later, her uniform intact, plus a pair of sunglasses.

“Lucy!” shouted Winn.

Lucy winced at the loud noise. She waved at him to turn it down.

Alex snickered at the sight of her. “Rough night, Major?”

“Fuck off, Danvers. Where’s J’onn?”

“Briefing our guest on protocols.” Alex said.

Alex gestured to Winn’s screen. “A patron of the bar told me our guest was looking to send deep space transmissions. I had Winn run a trace for outgoing signals. As soon as we had one, Supergirl was on him.”

Lucy squinted at the monitor on the left, where Winn had pulled up the security cameras for the alien’s cell. “So was he Kryptonian?”

“Daxamite, apparently.”

“Where the hell is that?”

“Sister planet to Krypton. Destroyed at the same time, according to Kara. Also, worse rivals than our current political system.”

“Wonderful. Because we’ve had such great success with rivalries within Krypton, sure, let’s bring in intersystem conflict.” Lucy looked at Winn, “Why here? Why Earth??”

Winn shrugged. “Same reason, probably. From what we can tell, he’s immune to Kryptonite. Similar powers, but not the same.”

Lucy sighed. “Well, shit.”

Alex frowned. “Go home, Luce. We’ve got this.”

“You called me in.”

“No, I let you know that we caught him,” said Alex. “You didn’t bother to check your messages at all, did you?”

“I saw you sent them,” Lucy shrugged.

“You’re a hot mess, Lane. Go home, take a nap. Amnesty’s being signed into law this afternoon. Go get some sleep, I’ll swing by and get you.”

 

* * *

 

 

She felt slightly more coherent by the time Danvers rolled around to pick her up. Again, the radio was set to quiet tunes and a coffee was waiting for her. Danvers had even sprung for a bearclaw.

“You looked like you needed it,” she said with a shy smile.

Lucy hummed and picked at the donut, just enjoying the ride. “What’s the plan?”

“Supergirl up high. We’ve got agents in the crowd and on the perimeter. We aren’t expecting trouble, since Daxam’s in custody, but we’ll be prepared just in case.”

“Yeah, maybe this time the _human_ nut jobs will show up to protest.”

“Wouldn’t that be a change?” Alex hummed.

They stood together, again, as the President prepared to announce the Amnesty bill. A woman approached Danvers with swagger and a leather jacket fit for Danvers’ closet.

“The President must be relieved you got the alien trying to kill her.”

“Sawyer, this is Major Lane. Lane, this is Detective Sawyer.”

Lucy checked out her competition. Short, confident, brunette, and gorgeous. She wasn’t sure if she should be _jealous_ of this woman or attracted to her. Up close, it was literally like looking at a duplicate of Danvers’ wardrobe.

“Thank you for all of your help, Officer.”

Sawyer forced a smile. “It’s Detective, Major.”

“My mistake.”

“Where is he now?” Maggie asked. “Some black site he’ll never return from?”

“Someplace where he’ll never be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Alex replied.

“Isn’t punishment without trial exactly what this act is supposed to prevent?”

“Unfortunately for him, even if it were in place and he _were_ registered, attempted murder of the President is still treason,” said Lucy.

The cheering crowd interrupted them before they could really get into it. She and Maggie were eying each other around Danvers. Alex, for her part, looked uncomfortable at the tension, but made no move to back down from the DEO’s position.

“My fellow Americans,” the President began. “Over a century ago, this nation erected a monument in New York Harbor. A Statue of Liberty.”

The crowd fell hush.

“The statue looked down upon Ellis Island,” she continued.

Sawyer crossed her arms and smiled up at President Marsden. Alex, hands on her waist, kept glancing over at Sawyer. Lucy sighed and crossed her arms over her chest for very different reasons.

“Where thousands of immigrants came to seek refuge from a home country that didn’t want them, that wouldn’t have them. But America took them in.”

Marsden paused for dramatic effect. She took the time to sweep her eyes over the audience, nodding to the DEO agents she was familiar with. “This is _our_ story.”

“The American people today, stand as one with history.”

The crowd applauds, as do Lucy, Alex, and Sawyer. It’s a great speech, that much Lucy can admit. It sounded like something Kara would say as Supergirl, and certainly explained why the alien went gaga over the President.

“No longer will our alien visitors be strangers committed to the shadows, forced to the fringes of a hostile and unwelcoming world. They will be granted the full rights and privileges of American citizens. The Statue of Liberty will stand for aliens, too.”

The crowd went wild with support. Lucy’s eyes scanned what she could see of the crowd.

“And now, if uh, If someone would just hand me a pen…”

An aide stepped forward.

“Thank you very much!” the President said, holding the pen high for all to see. “Here we go!”

Marsden leaned forward with a smile. “History.”

But as she began to sign, a fireball caught the act on fire. More fireballs struck out at the stage, taking out Secret Service agents and sending the crowd scattering. Supergirl flew down and blew out the podium that was still burning, somehow still managing to fangirl over the President.

Lucy and Alex spun, looking for the source of the attack. As did Sawyer.

A redhead, hands aflame and eyes shooting lasers. And a leather jacket of her own. Lucy was beginning to feel underdressed. Those laser beams shot Supergirl out of the way.

Alex and Lucy walked towards the alien, guns out and shooting her with no effect. The alien turned her fire on Alex, sending her flying. Lucy walked backwards, back towards Alex, as fast as she could, still firing ineffectively at the alien. She almost tripped over the edge of the fountain Alex fell into. Lucy was relieved to find Alex, fire-free and coughing up smoke and water. Lucy knelt at Alex’s side, even as Sawyer approached the firebrand with her weapon drawn.

“Put ‘em out or I’ll put you out,” said Sawyer.

Lasers melted the weapon and burned Sawyer’s hand. Her attacker twisted the weapon out of Sawyer’s grip, keeping her close even as she used a free hand to start a firestorm around them.

Lucy helped Alex up and out of the water, losing sight of the alien and Sawyer. Alex looked around frantically, even as Kara approached. Lucy kept patting Alex down, checking her for injuries, even as Alex kept moving.

“Are you okay?” Supergirl asked.

“Are _you_ okay?” asked Alex.

They nodded at each other, and Lucy winked at Supergirl. Lucy was still trying to corral Alex, who was still slightly smoking. She’d be pissed about the burns on her favorite jacket, but Lucy was just thankful Alex had been wearing it zipped.

Alex spun around in a circle, scanning the empty grounds.

“Where’s Maggie?” Alex asked, in a panic.

 

* * *

 

 

“So the attacker wasn’t our Daxamite after all,” said J’onn.

“That’s what it looks like,” Lucy agreed.

“No, this is all my fault. And now Detective Sawyer is missing.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Alex argued.

“We all missed it,” Lucy agreed.

J’onn nodded, “There were signs. We took the easy answer.”

“But if I hadn’t been so blinded by how I felt about Daxam, we could have been out there searching for the _real_ assassin!” Supergirl waved her arms in frustration. “But I let my guard down, and the President almost died as a result.”

Alex looked guilty as sin as she avoided her sister’s eyes. Lucy couldn’t blame her, she’d seen what Alex had been paying attention to. But if they were playing the blame game, Lucy hadn’t been paying attention to the right things either.

“The President! That’s, like, misdemeanor treason!”

Alex hid her laugh by using her hand to push the hair out of her eyes, placing a comforting hand on Supergirl’s arm. Even J’onn was smirking.

“As a lawyer, I’d like to point out that’s not a thing,” Lucy laughed.

J’onn held out a tablet. “Courtesy of the White House Press Corps in attendance at the signing.”

The tablet played a video of the attack, Princess Firepuff front and center.

“Do we have an ID on the attacker?” Lucy asked.

“No,” said Alex. “But I… I recognize her.”

“From where?”

Alex looked at her sister guiltily. “Uh. A bar where I met Sawyer’s contacts.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

“An alien bar?” Alex continued, shrinking away from the stares of J’onn and Supergirl, much to Lucy’s endless amusement.

She managed to catch a photo of this one.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was getting tired of chasing after Alex Danvers. Not in the romantic sense, no, she was perfectly willing to take her time there, just as Alex deserved. Literally chasing after her was getting old.

She almost missed the alley and the dingy entryway, let alone the password. Even then, as out of breath as she was, she had to repeat it three times before they’d let her in. Keeping up with a superhero for a sister must have given Alex some serious stamina. Her side was still healing, and the wound didn’t appreciate Lucy running around in the slightest.

Because of course, Lucy would be slow enough to walk in on Danvers with a man pinned to the ground by the throat with a damn barstool. And like any dive bar, none of the other patrons did anything to stop her. The blue guy in the corner was even placing a bet.

“Is your memory good now or does it need more jogging?”

“Danvers!”

“You’re crazy!” the guy choked out.

“Goddamnit, Danvers!” Lucy cursed.

“This woman kidnapped Maggie Sawyer, a woman who risks her life every day fighting for your rights. She cares what happens to you.”

Everyone in the damn bar heard the _I don’t_ that Alex implied.

“The least you can do is return the favor,” she continued.

Lucy slid the photo to the bartender, looking at her pleadingly. The woman picked it up, staring at it intently. She held it up, and looked over to Alex.

“I know her,” said the barkeep. “She hangs out down by the foundry.”

“Thanks,” Alex said.

Alex stood and tossed the barstool aside. She carelessly stepped over the man still gasping for air on the ground, walking past Lucy without a care in the world. Lucy winced and collected the photo from the bartender.

“She’ll be back to pay for that,” Lucy said, as she raced after Danvers _again_.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy waited in the car. She waited in the driver’s seat, engine revved in case they needed to make a quick getaway while Supergirl caused a distraction. Just in case, and just because she was already injured.

Not before making Alex swear she’d look out for herself, or before making Supergirl swear to do the same.

She also called for backup. And told Pam to have forms waiting for Alex’s little stunt at the bar. The stool would come out of her paycheck, and so would any damages if that guy sued. Maybe _then_ Alex would learn from her bad decisions.

It was hell, waiting for Alex to sneak into the building while Supergirl waited above it for her cue. They didn’t even have functional comms, since Alex ran out so fast, so all Lucy could do was wait.

And panic a little, but no one without superhearing would know the difference.

It took fifteen minutes for Supergirl to make her entrance. Lasers and fireballs filled the windows. Then Kara’s freezebreath froze the windows.

Lucy tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, waiting. Supergirl was causing her distraction, Danvers and Sawyer should have been out by now.

Booms. Explosions.

All things Lucy was beginning to equate to being in the presence of either Danvers sister.

Her gun was on the seat next to her. Lucy was itching to go in after them. Alex wasn’t the only one who made a promise though, and she would see it through until she was absolutely sure her help was needed. She believed in them.

Her belief was rewarded when Danvers and Sawyer made their way out, limping and leaning on each other. They slid into the back seat, smelling of smoke and charcoal.

“What the hell took so long, Danvers?”

“Were you worried about me?”

“Worried about the environment, sitting here wasting gas.”

“Supergirl has the Infernian. She’s taking her back to holding.”

“Which one?”

Alex smirked. “The same one we’re going to.”

“Sawyer doesn’t have clearance.” Lucy caught the other woman’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “No offense, Sawyer.”

“Just drive, Luce. I’ll get it cleared with Pam.”

Lucy pulled away, heading for the city base. “More like I’ll be the one dealing with this shit, as always.”

“You love me, Lane.”

Sawyer laughed. “Man, and I thought you and Supergirl were fun. You two always like this?”

“Yes,” they chorused.

Lucy grumbled the entire way back to HQ, even as Sawyer and Alex laughed and chatted and complimented each other on taking out the Infernian. The jealous pit in her stomach was growing, and Lucy didn’t like it one bit.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy let Alex lead Sawyer through security and into medical. Her path was different, heading to Pam’s office in HR. Lucy had permission to grab all the forms she needed after hours, and she planned to grab every single one she needed to make herself feel better.

Standard NDA about the existence of the DEO. NDA’s specific to persons not affiliated with the agency who become aware of an agent’s position within the agency. Due to the number of agents Sawyer filed past to get into the building, as well as all of those she’d come across in the past few days, she’d have to fill out one for each of them.

There must be originals on file, after all, and protocol dictated originals must be signed in ink, not photocopied.

Lucy counted roughly 47 agents requiring this form.

There were forms for medical waivers that Lucy was sure Alex hadn’t made Sawyer sign before receiving treatment. Medical billing responsibility, of course. They weren’t running a charity after all.

Interfering with an investigation, that was a good one.

Form 47-b parts 1-7 were mandatory in any incident involving Agent Danvers, per Pam’s request.

Also damage reports. Witness statements for Agent Danvers’ actions in the line of duty. Background check forms for proper vetting.

Lucy had never had so much fun collecting a mound of paperwork. By the time she was done, the first stack was nearly 7” thick, and she had two identical stacks next to it, because regulations stated everything must be filled out in triplicate, and unfortunately for Detective Sawyer, they were all out of carbon paper. Lucy happily nabbed a box of pens from the supply closet before heading down to medical.

She could see Alex staring after Sawyer with a faint smile.

Lucy’s grip tightened on the pens just hard enough to dent the box. She pasted on her best lawyer smile and stepped directly into Sawyer’s path. “Going somewhere, Detective?”

“Hot date,” Sawyer shrugged.

“Unfortunately, Detective, you might want to call them and let them know you’ll be a little delayed. I have some paperwork that needs to be filed, and well, it might take you a bit.”

Sawyer eyed the large stack in Lucy’s arms. “Most of that is fine print, right?”

“Some of it,” Lucy agreed. “As a lawyer, I highly recommend reading through all of it, however. If you’ll follow me?”

“A lawyer? I thought you were a Major. And a Director. Danvers is a doctor. How many careers do you have to have at the same time to work here.”

“Danvers is a doctor twice over, actually. She handles quite a bit of our labwork, as well as R&D.”

Lucy heard a slight stumble behind her as Sawyer missed a step. Lucy grinned to herself before glancing over her shoulder. “Of course, all of that’s classified. But don’t worry, it’s already covered in these forms here.”

Lucy entered the conference room first and flicked on the lights. “This room is probably overkill, but some of these forms have similar information, so I thought it might be easier for you to copy over if you can spread it out.”

“There’s no way I can do this tomorrow? Or type up the answers and just sign the print outs?”

“‘Fraid not,” Lucy said cheerfully.

Sawyer shot off a text and settled into a chair, resigned to her fate.

Lucy sat at the head of the table and propped her feet up on another chair, content to lean back and enjoy the show. She would gladly sacrifice a few extra hours of sleep for this.

“Don’t forget,” she added. “Pam wasn’t here to highlight the forms for us, but when you’re done filling things out, I’ll need to go over the specific places in the fine print that you need to sign.”

Sawyer’s head hit the table while she groaned loudly.

Lucy grinned proudly.

 


	4. Episode 4: Lion Taming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and James sit down for a conversation over breakfast, Lucy is a bi disaster, and Vasquez is the desert base bookie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo, so this one wound up being a little shorter than average... but I think you'll all enjoy it.
> 
> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

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**Lion Taming**

James had insisted on the need to meet up early, citing a busy CEO’s schedule. Lucy found herself more than a little pissed that he was late. She understood the schedule, her brief time with Cat Grant and Kara’s secret administrative superpowers proving that to be a fact, but for some reason, Lucy had a nagging feeling that James wasn’t being 100% truthful.

Frankly, Lucy thought he had been avoiding her since the Clark situation.

He would be smart to, considering she was still pissed at him.

He showed up around her third cup of coffee, half an hour late and far too early for her day off. He offered a sheepish smile and opened his arms for a hug.

Lucy remained seated, preferring the warmth of her coffee. She raised an eyebrow, “You’re late.”

“My workout ran late,” he said, sliding into the seat opposite hers. “How’s life in the desert?”

Lucy snorted. “Less exciting than in the city, thank god. Not that I’ve seen much of it lately.”

“Kara mentioned she was seeing you around more.”

“Mhm.” Lucy sipped at her coffee. “If you could remind her damage to public property-- never mind _private_ property -- costs money, that would be great.”

“Don’t black ops guys have blank checks?”

“Not when a woman is in charge. How’s CATCO?”

The waitress, Beth, cleared her throat. “Hi. Ma’am, need another refill?”

“Yes, please. Thanks, Beth.”

“And can I get you anything, sir?”

“Coffee, please.”

Beth reached for an empty table and stole a mug. When they were both topped off, she offered a smile entirely too bright for pre-dawn hours. “Alright, then, I’ll just give you two some time to think about what you want for breakfast, mmkay?”

“Thanks, Beth.” James shifted, wrapping his hands around the mug. “CATCO’s fine. Busy, without Cat. Not as crazy as the last time she stepped away, not yet anyway.”

“That’s good.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Lucy stared into her coffee, but she could feel her ex-boyfriend’s eyes on her the whole time. Beth swung back by, getting her order of a sticky bun and James’ Farmer’s Plate.

And still, neither spoke.

She was fine with it. Lucy still wasn’t sure where she was going to hide the body when she was done with him, he was so damn tall even transport would be a pain.

Their plates were delivered, and Lucy dug in. She forcefully stabbed at her treat, the metal tines clacking against the ceramic angrily in the empty diner.

“So… are we going to talk about it?”

“Talk about what, James? You’re the one who called me.”

“The elephant in the room.”

Lucy snorted. “Which one? The one where you lied to me _for years_ about Clark’s night time activities? Or your brilliant idea to come to me for advice about Kara?”

“Uh. Sounds like both,” he winced.

Lucy picked up her knife and waved for him to continue, making sure the gesture was broad and sweeping, and _just_ past his nose.

“The whole Clark thing wasn’t my fault! It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Lucy looked on, unimpressed.

He sighed. “Look, Luce. I tried, okay. He and-- he didn’t trust you. You were military, close to your dad… There were a whole lot of reasons and nothing I said changed his mind.”

Lucy stabbed her pastry and stared.

“I tried, okay? Even before we were dating, I knew you wouldn’t rat him out.”

Lucy’s next bite was vicious.

“Honestly I thought you’d figure it out. Clark is just as bad at excuses as Kara is, it’s kind of ridiculous,” James chuckled.

His chuckle faded as Lucy expression didn’t change.

“Um. Moving on? Uh, the Kara thing. That. That was probably a dick move.”

He rubbed the back of his neck as Lucy stabbed another piece.

“But, I couldn’t really talk to Winn, you know? He had a thing for her before I moved here, and she kind of just threw him in the friendzone,” he held up his hands in surrender, “Which isn’t a thing, _I know_ . But he’s still kind of touchy about it. And there’s Alex, right? But Alex is Kara’s _sister_.”

James paused and scooted his chair a little farther back from the table. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but she’s scarier than you.”

Lucy was a little insulted. She worked hard to maintain her image.

“Mostly because I think she could disarm my Superwatch and I’d never know it until it was too late.”

Lucy snorted. She felt a little better about that, because that was absolutely something Alex would do. James would be wandering the desert naked and praying Clark would hear his cries for help before he knew it.

She made a note to add Alex to her plans for revenge. She would be helpful.

Also people would suspect Alex first _and_ Alex wouldn’t squelch on her.

“I couldn’t exactly talk to Clark, I mean, he’s her baby cousin? It would be weird. It _is_ weird, because he married Lois and I dated you, and then Kara was a thing and-”

She took particular pleasure in the way his eyes widened as he realized he was just making things worse for himself by mentioning Lois. She was half tempted to ask if he needed a shovel, but really, Lucy was content to let him continue to hang himself.

“Uh. I mean, you’re a girl and you know me best and… I’m just going to stop now.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

James scooted back to the table and dug into his now cold breakfast. He was avoiding her eyes, and she was making sure to eat her breakfast as slowly, and as violently, as possible. Beth was brilliant at slipping around them quietly to refill their drinks.

Lucy finished her pastry and drained her coffee, shaking her head at Beth when she raised a pot in question. She stared at James until he looked up from his breakfast.

“I followed you across the country to save something that wasn’t worth saving, and that was my fault. We failed for so many reasons, some of which I’m only just beginning to understand, but chief among them is the way we both keep secrets. I _have to_ as part of my career, and I thought you understood that. Telling me that my brother-in-law and the alien with a crush on my sister _are the same person_ isn’t like outing someone during DADT, James Olsen. I would have felt _better_ about Lois’ relationship with both of them, I wouldn’t worry about her so much, and we could have talked it out. _You_ knew his secret was safe with me.”

Lucy paused, realization hitting her. “Oh.”

It suddenly hit her that he didn’t. He said he believed her, but he didn’t, not really. He would have fought harder if he trusted her to be a part of his life, secret boyfriend and all, if he trusted her in the slightest.

“You didn’t.” She clenched her jaw. “But you didn’t. And you still don’t, even after everything I’ve done with the DEO, for Kara and Alex.”

Lucy looked away. “But you trust me not to tank your relationship with the other woman. That’s priceless, Olsen.”

Lucy stood and threw her napkin on the table. “It’s been enlightening, James. I’d really like to be friends with you, but if you call me for relationship advice again, I will slash your tires.”

She headed towards the door, pausing at the register. She offered a small smile to Beth, “Breakfast is on him.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy’s plans for the rest of the day involved sweatpants and yelling at old episodes of _JAG_. Those plans were interrupted by a mid-morning call from Alex.

“Danvers, can I have _one_ day off without you getting into trouble?”

“Hello to you, Lane,” Alex laughed. “I thought you’d want to be kept in the loop, but I can leave you to your binging.”

“What loop?”

“Those reports of missing aliens? Sawyer’s had a break.”

“Sawyer, huh?”

“There was a dead Scyvillian in a trunk this morning. Sawyer called me to check it out and Kara swung by.”

“She doesn’t know Kara is-”

“ _No_ , Luce,” Alex sighed. “Maggie is probably the one person in National City who _doesn’t_ know who Supergirl is.”

Lucy snickered. “Right. So, Kara showed up?”

“Scyvillians are peaceful. Pacifists. But this guy looked like he’d been fighting for a while.”

Lucy paused Netflix and sat up on the couch. “Fight club?”

“That’s what we’re thinking.”

“Any leads?”

“Not on my end. Kara and Sawyer are keeping an ear to the ground though.”

Lucy nodded to herself. “Okay. You’ll keep me updated?”

“I called you, didn’t I?” Alex laughed.

“Yes, you’re very brave, risking my wrath on my day off.”

“Speaking of,” Alex said, more serious now, “How did breakfast go with James?”

“He was late. Apparently he _never_ trusted me not to tell Dad about Clark, but he thinks enough of me to know I wouldn’t sabotage his efforts with Kara,” Lucy sighed. “And it’s a little too early for a drink.”

“Even for us,” Alex agreed. “Have you tried donuts?”

Lucy laughed hard enough to almost drop her phone. “Jesus, Danvers, you really are Kara’s sister.”

“I like sugar when I need to work through things, sue me.”

Lucy shook her head fondly. “Yeah, yeah, color me completely unsurprised. You wanna grab a pizza for dinner?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. No _JAG_ though, I can only handle one lawyer at a time, imaginary or otherwise.”

“Stay safe out there, Danvers.”

“Yeah, I will. Enjoy your couch time.”

Lucy stared at her phone fondly for a minute or two after hanging up. Danvers usually managed to brighten her day, even if she blew something up along the way.

She really needed to talk with J’onn about giving that woman access to so many portable weapons of large-scale destruction. It was pretty poor safety management.

Lucy sighed and hit play on her remote, settling back in for another few hours of _JAG_. She might even stretch her plans a bit and take a nap later.

 

* * *

 

 

She was rudely awoken from her nap by her phone ringing again. She glared at the screen in disbelief, she hadn’t meant to sleep that long. Her voice was groggy when she answered, raspy with sleep.

“Danvers? What?”

“I interrupt something important, Lane?”

Lucy slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I fell asleep-”

“I would too, watching _JAG_.”

“You’re hilarious. What do you want?”

“Yeah so I can’t do dinner tonight. We have a lead.”

Lucy absolutely was not disappointed. “Oh yeah? What is it?”

“I have no idea. Sawyer called and gave me an address. Told me to meet her there and dress nice.”

“Another date?” Lucy frowned.

“It’s not a date,” Alex said. “Are you coming over to help me figure out what to wear or not?”

“I thought you said it wasn’t a date?”

“Are you coming over or not, fashionista?”

“I’ll be there in twenty,” Lucy said before hanging up.

It was more like half an hour. There was no way Lucy would willingly let _anyone_ see her in sweatpants, let alone Alex Danvers. That was more like thirteenth date behavior. Thanks to her years in the military, Lucy had perfected the quick shower. She was fresh and clean, no trace of her earlier nap outside of her minimal makeup. She had towel dried her hair on the way over, one hand on the wheel, leaving a beachy, wavy mass, and Lucy had never been so glad she’d started cutting her hair shorter.

Alex was still dressed in her DEO best when she answered the door. “You’re late.”

“You’re hot. Are we done stating the obvious, or am I going to dig through your leather jackets for appropriate eveningwear?”

“I own more than leather jackets.”

“DEO supplied gear doesn’t cooooount,” Lucy sang.

Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed Lucy’s hand to drag her through the apartment. Lucy wasn’t particularly sure where Alex’s closet even was, considering how distracted she’d been by the massive bed every time she dropped by. It was a shame Danvers was wasting it on the single life, that bed looked like a magnificent time.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Alex threw open the door to her mysterious closet.

Much like the apartment and the bed, Alex’s closet was oversized to a ridiculous degree for a single person as low maintenance as Alex was. Lucy let out a low whistle, poking her head into the room.

“You know, I thought this apartment was a massive studio, I didn’t realize it was just that your bed didn’t fit in the bedroom.”

“Very funny, Lane.”

Lucy wandered inside, leaving the door cracked. “What kind of event is it?”

“She just said to dress up.”

“You sure it’s not a date?”

“Jesus Christ Lane, _it’s not a date_.”

“Just checking,” Lucy murmured.

She moved past the racks of leather jackets and DEO assigned gear and into a veritable forest of soft flannels. She ran a hand along the softer fabrics. “If I reach the lamppost I’ve gone too far.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Danvers. How far back does this thing go?”

“Just find me a dress, Lucy. I haven’t got all night.”

Lucy looked around and snickered. Danvers really was one of a kind. She paused and took a few steps back to snag a really cool looking jacket. It was a little big, but she could make it work. She turned back to the surprising amount of clothes that Danvers had to offer. She paused at the equally surprising colorful selection of very soft sweaters. It made sense really, that Alex’s hard crusty shell would be located at the front of her closet, with the soft gay buried in the back.

The very back though, that’s where things got interesting. Lucy was relatively certain that nearly all of the dresses had been filched from the DEO closet. She snickered at the decidedly bulletproof feel to nearly all of the fabrics.

Danvers was nothing if not practical. Lucy sifted around, trying to find the perfect dress. Nothing too showy, as it probably, hopefully, wasn’t an actual date. She recognized the one from the photos of Danvers’ date with Lord and briefly contemplated pulling that one out. Alex would probably kill her, Lucy was actually surprised Alex hadn’t burned it.

“Did you get lost?” Alex called.

“Not like you could draw a map out of the closet,” Lucy muttered.

Turning to face the door, she said, “No!”

On a whim, Lucy picked the dark blue. She’d never seen Alex in anything like it, so if nothing else that would be a treat.

She almost dropped the damn thing as she came out of the closet. She also almost kicked herself for wanting to laugh at the thought of stepping out of another closet.

Alex Danvers had a back made of muscle and sinew and it was gloriously exposed as she wrestled out of her sports bra. Lucy could have offered to help, but she didn’t trust herself to behave. Instead, she leaned against the door jamb and enjoyed the view. She lingered over the scars that marked Alex’s fight, the dips and curves of tight muscle and sinew over bone.

Lucy forced herself to look away while Alex slipped on a much less functional bra, shaking her head. Alex was her friend. Alex did not need to be objectified, just because she was gorgeous and changing in front of Lucy.

Alex cleared her throat.

Lucy looked over and let herself see the color before forcing her eyes up to meet Alex’s. “Oh, good. You picked something that matched.”

Lucy was definitely not distracted by Alex’s abs at all.

Alex wasn’t even paying attention, thankfully. She was too busy stepping into the dress, pulling it up those long legs. None of which Lucy was focusing on. She forcibly looked away, staring off at the couch.

“Hey, Lucy?”

“Mmm?”

“Can you zip me up?”

Lucy swallowed. “Yup.”

Lucy was too damn old for her hands to shake as she zipped up the back of Alex’s dress, careful not to touch. She patted the fabric gently and pasted a smile to her face. “All done, Danvers. You good on hair and makeup, or do you need a second pair of hands?”

“I’m good.” Alex ran her hands down her dress. “I look okay?”

“You look ravishable, Danvers,” Lucy grinned wickedly. “You sure it’s not a date?”

“Get out.”

Lucy cackled. Alex fought hard to keep a straight face, but her lips were trembling and her arm, pointed towards the door, wouldn’t hold still.

Lucy smirked, running her eyes up and down Alex. “Anything else you want me to take out of the closet?”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was surprised and a little disappointed when she didn’t hear from Alex. Kara was the one who told her about what went down at the fight club. She waited another day before showing up at the other base with a stack of paperwork for Pam that she could have couriered over.

Winn was hunched over his desk with his head in his hands.

“Long night, Schott?”

“Ugh.”

“You go out with James on a school night?”

Winn dropped his head on the keyboard, mindless of the type scrolling across the screen. Lucy reached under and palmed his forehead, forcing him upright. “Eyes on the skies, Schott.”

“You look like crap,” Alex said, startling them both.

Winn turned to glare. He ducked out of the way as she tried to rustle his hair. “Thank you, I saw the mirror this morning. Don’t you have things to do, Agent Danvers? People to scare?”

“Don’t you have firewalls to code?”

Lucy snorted. “Video games to play?”

“What are you doing here, Lucy?”

“I wanted to get caught up on the fight club situation,” Lucy said, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

“OH. Oh, right. C’mon, I’m in the middle of something in my lab, we can talk and science at the same time.”

Lucy padded behind Alex, handing the paperwork off to a green agent with directions to HR. Alex paused at the door to her lab. She looked at Lucy speculatively.

“Did you seriously bring paperwork to grill me?”

“I thought we were friends, Danvers.”

“We are?”

“Friends tell other friends about their dates.”

“Seriously, Lane,” Alex growled. “It wasn’t a date.”

“Not even a little hand holding?” Lucy teased.

It wasn’t as funny when Alex froze halfway to her setup, or when she refused to look at Lucy directly, focusing only on the task at hand.

Lucy’s smile faltered. “Danvers?”

“She grabbed my hand to pull me into the place. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“She compliment you? You looked hot.”

“Yeah, she said I cleaned up nice.”

“Sounds like a date,” said Lucy.

“It wasn’t a date.”

“Did you compliment her?”

Alex paused, “Sort of. She looked nice.”

“Wait, how do you ‘sort of’ compliment someone?”

“Not important. Anyway, we broke up the fight club. M’gann is fighting there-”

“Who’s M’gann?”

“Bartender at the offworlder bar.”

Lucy sat heavily on a stool. “I’m so confused. Is she there willingly?”

“Sort of.”

“Another sort of?” Lucy leaned on the table. “How hard is it to get specifics out of you?”

“I don’t know, she mentioned something about paying off a debt.”

“Coercion. I can work with that. You guys get anything else?”

Alex shrugged. “They scattered like cockroaches. By then it was a little late to swing through, and yesterday I had the greenies to run through their paces. J’onn talked to M’gann about it but didn’t get much out of her.”

Lucy nodded. “That’s not unexpected. What’s the plan?”

“Maggie is asking around, but after we got jumped-”

“Wait, _you got what_?”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Did I not mention that?”

“When.”

“Um. Between the time I called you after the body and the time I called you about the dress?”

“You didn’t think it was important to mention then?”

“Um.”

“Did you file a report, Danvers? Get checked out?”

“Luce, Sawyer and I were fine. A little bruised, and they got away with the suspect we were chasing-- another alien we think has been in the fights-- but we-- _I_ am fine. You didn’t see any bruises on me when I put the dress on.”

“I wasn’t looking, Danvers,” Lucy lied.

Alex rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Anyway, Sawyer’s taking it easy, trying not to ruffle too many feathers on her own.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “We’re starting back at square one then?”

“We know the ringleader is Veronica Sinclair. Goes by the name Roulette. We just have to _prove_ it.”

“Wonderful. Another rich jackass trying to prove the rules don’t matter.”

Alex laughed, “Isn’t that always the case?”

A banging on the door interrupted them.

Winn, looking frantic, kept motioning for Alex to open it. Alex held up her ID and made a swiping motion, and that’s what finally sunk in for him.

“Sorry, I didn’t know I had clearance.”

“You don’t,” they chorused.

“Then how-?” Winn shook his head. “Alex, you know those trackers you and J’onn got?”

“Yeah?”

“His just went offline.”

Alex and Lucy exchanged worried glances. J’onn was nearly as strong as Kara, and the tracker was subdermal. There wasn’t much that could take it offline.

 

* * *

 

 

The NCPD 1st Precinct was certainly one of the nicer ones Lucy had ever set foot in, not that she had been in many. The floors were clean, the desks mostly uncluttered, and, most importantly for any victim of bureaucracy, all of the overhead light bulbs were shining. She strode confidently through the precinct after flashing her badge with security, headed straight for the Commissioner’s office.

He was a pompous ass of a man who didn’t retire soon enough, but he did good police work and kept a tight leash on the prejudice of his officers. Lucy could work with him well enough, but she and J’onn tried to stay away from jurisdictional fights.

He met her at his door, a wide smile wrinkling his crow’s feet. He motioned her inside, letting her sit first. “Major, good to see you again.”

“You too, Commissioner.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I want to talk to you about the Science Division.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Ah, yes. I figured you’d be here about them eventually. When the mayor got wind of Amnesty, he got a fire in his pants about creating a special task force for handling that sort of thing. Detective Sawyer’s in charge of that group, though they do report to their Captain and to me.”

“Yes, Sawyer and I have met.”

“She isn’t stepping on your toes, is she?”

“Mm no, not much. She’s actually been a great help to us lately.”

“That’s good to hear, Major.”

“Yes, we’ve actually pulled her in to help with what we suspect is an Offworlder trafficking circle. There’s a fight club based here in National City, and we think it’s the root cause of a string of missing aliens.”

“Oh. Wow. No wonder Sawyer hasn’t been in the office much.”

“Exactly. I know she has a lot of freedom here, and is leading things, but I wanted to get your opinion on whether you think she could handle a permanent liaising position?”

The Commissioner’s eyebrows shot up. “You want a permanent liaison officer?”

“It surprised me too,” Lucy laughed. “But quite frankly, Detective Sawyer has accumulated neighborhood sources a federal agency never could. She’s proven to work well with one of our more… solitary agents, and I think a partnership could serve us both well.”

“Sawyer is voluntarily working with you?”

Lucy snickered. “That’s about the reaction everyone has to Danvers working with someone other than Supergirl.”

He tapped his fingers on the desk and thought for a few minutes. Lucy let him have the time. She could have demanded it, it was well within her rights, but she preferred a more diplomatic approach.

It did not hurt that, in Lucy’s experience, a man in power was much more likely to accept an idea if he thought he was the one to approve it.

“I suppose we’ll find ourselves working together more and more. We already are, really, with Supergirl around.”

“My thoughts exactly, Commissioner.”

“That sounds like a fine plan. I’ll run it by Sawyer and her captain later today, but I think it’s a safe bet to say you’ve got yourself a liaison.”

Lucy stood and offered her hand. “Thank you, sir.”

“Of course!”

She felt his eyes on her ass the entire way out. The man might have been a decent cop, and a good commissioner for those that stayed on his good side, but he was still a pig.

 

* * *

 

 

The NCPD and the DEO’s joint task force was ready to move as soon as Supergirl gave them the address. It was surprisingly easy to get the two organizations working together smoothly, perhaps because so many members of the NCPD were ex military.

Lucy didn’t know, and she didn’t care. Her main concern was keeping the Danvers sisters in the least amount of trouble at any given time. Considering J’onn was in trouble, it was a tall order in and of itself. That’s why Lucy was dressed in full gear and ready to go, shoving tac helmets at both Alex and Sawyer.

“You’re not going in there unprotected Sawyer, it’s too much paperwork if you get killed.”

“I was under the impression you were a fan of paperwork?” Sawyer asked.

Alex frowned in confusion, “Lucy _hates_ paperwork?”

“Really, because she-”

“Head’s up, we’re ready to roll,” Lucy interrupted. “Danvers, are the teams in place?”

“Ready to go, Major.”

Lucy nodded. “Sawyer, stay behind the people with _real_ body armor.”

Supergirl bursting down through the roof was their cue. As the club attendees started to flee, agents and officers were stationed at every exit, ready to catch them in one of the biggest stings National City had seen in years. Lucy was proud of herself for that one.

Their team made its own entrance with a little bit of C-4. They had a Director to rescue, after all.

The fight was brutal. Lucy’s side had healed enough for field duty, but she was loathe to think about the noise Hamilton would raise about the difference between light field duty and being flung across a warehouse by an alien three times her size. Her ears were still ringing by the time everything calmed down.

Letting Sawyer collar Roulette was really the least she could do.

Besides, Lucy was a little distracted. Alex had finally lost the rigid stance she’d been carrying since they learned about J’onn. Her smile would have knocked the wind out of Lucy had the alien not done it for her.

“J’onn Jonzz, you are on my shit list.”

J’onn smiled widely. “Is there anyone who isn’t, Major Lane?”

“Danvers hasn’t been shot today, and she didn’t blow up anything without permission.”

“Well, as long as she had permission,” he laughed.

“Danvers is standing _right_ _here_.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the ringing in my ears.”

“You’re a little shit, Lane.”

“Can’t hear you, Danvers, what did you say?”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy had a very nice office at the desert base. She used it slightly more frequently than J’onn ever had, mostly because she could turn off the overhead lights and think for a while. Vasquez knew not to bother her while she was in there, or at least to knock first if it was important. Her ears were still ringing from the day before, so Lucy had retreated to her office almost immediately upon returning to duty.

It was a quiet day, no repairs or maintenance was scheduled today, and Lucy knew she’d be free from the noise of construction that had haunted her most of the summer. Even better, things had calmed enough that her air purifier could handle the dust being blown around, and she no longer had to wear the stupid safety mask.

Peace and quiet and a nice calm day was what Lucy was expecting.

Supergirl bearing donuts was not among those plans.

“Lucy! I need to talk to you.”

Her once neatly stacked paperwork now decorated her office, knick knacks akimbo and those annoying overheads turned on, all thanks to Supergirl.

“There better be more than one donut in there for me.”

“Oh, this is for you and Vasquez. I ate mine already.”

“An entire box?” Lucy asked incredulously.

“Of course not,” Supergirl said. “I ate two.”

“Two donuts is just as unbelievable.”

“Two boxes,” she corrected.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled the box out of Supergirl’s reach before she could change her mind and eat the bribe too. “What do you need?”

“Need? Why do you think I need something.”

“You hate coming here _and_ you brought donuts.”

“I mean you’re right, I shouldn’t have brought you donuts, you didn’t solve the bat problem.”

“Vlad try to bite you again?” Lucy asked through a mouthful of pastry.

“You _named it_?”

“Irrelevant, Kara. Why are you here?’

“I need you to convince J’onn to release Mon-El into my custody.”

Lucy frowned. “Who the hell is Mon-El?”

“The Daxamite.”

“Oh hell, no. He’s a menace to society.”

“He doesn’t know his own strength! I was the same way when I got here, you can ask Alex!”

“We have no assurances he won’t try to cause more harm.”

“He was just trying to go home, Lucy. He didn’t know there was no home to come back to.”

Lucy sat back in her chair, running numbers through her head. They were already outpacing the budget she’d set for property repairs.

Supergirl fidgeted in front of her. She looked far more like Kara Danvers than anything else, squirming in her seat and hoping Lucy would say yes.

“Who’s going to teach him not to break every door knob he comes across?”

“I will,” Supergirl volunteered. “I want to train him in everything. Fighting, saving pets from trees, even using the copier.”

“You want to train him to be a superhero? Does he even _want_ to be one?”

Supergirl shrugged. “He’ll know how just in case. He’s got the powers, he should used them for good, or at least know how to.”

“He’s got to get a job.”

“I spoke with James. I lined up an internship at CATCO.”

“He’ll stay at the NC base for now. We’ll put him up in more private quarters, but I’m not budgeting for him to live on his own. He can move out when he makes the money to do so.”

Supergirl shrieked loud enough to make Lucy regret it. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes, fine. Go do whatever it is you do. I’ll talk to J’onn.”

 

* * *

 

 

Talking J’onn into letting the Boy Wonder off his leash took more out of Lucy than she’d like to admit. Ignoring Alex’s texts questioning her sanity was much easier.

Vasquez, on the other hand, was harder to avoid.

“Are you sure that was wise, Ma’am?”

“No.”

“Then why did you do it?”

Lucy shrugged. “Either he’ll try to fit in or he won’t. Judging by the security tapes, I think she’ll have her hands full.”

Vasquez looked back at the systems check running on their screen. “Seems like that would take a lot of Supergirl’s time.”

“Mm. Yes, probably. But it’ll give her a chance to practice outside of the green rooms, and with someone who isn’t J’onn. She’s been getting complacent.”

“That’s a fair point, Ma’am.”

“Why do I feel like you’re mocking me?”

“I wonder what Agent Danvers will do with her suddenly free time,” Vasquez muttered, ignoring Lucy completely.

“Probably hang out with that cop.”

“The one you brought on as a liaison?”

“I’m a glutton for punishment.”

Vasquez looked up from their screen to eye Lucy. “Yeah, somehow I doubt that.”

Lucy snorted.

“Besides, boss. You can’t give up now, I have $50 riding on you two getting together by Christmas.”

“You pushed it out to Christmas? I’m insulted.”

Vasquez made a face. “I lost a hundred betting on you two getting together before Labor Day. What’s taking so long?”

Lucy had her suspicions, but she kept them to herself. “You shouldn’t bet on your coworkers and superiors, Vasquez. I do believe that is against our very comprehensive HR policies.”

“Is that an order, ma’am?”

“Hell no,” Lucy laughed. “Your orders are to let me see the running bets, Vasquez. I know you’re the damn bookie.”

Vasquez’s innocent face was _slightly_ more believable than Alex’s. Lucy might have even bought it. Except Vasquez wasn’t nearly as slick as they thought they were when they tried to slide a small black notebook out of sight.

The resulting battle was probably the least professional fifteen minutes of Lucy’s _entire career_. It ended with her standing on top of the nearest desk, trying desperately to keep the book out of Vasquez’s hands.

That was, of course, the moment that Alex walked in with a box of her own donuts.

“Danvers,” Lucy said, pretending that Vas wasn’t still jumping for the book. “What are you doing here.”

“Roulette was released, orders from on high. What the hell are _you_ doing and what’s in that book?”

Lucy glanced at Vasquez, both of them realizing that Alex should never see what was in the book. Lucy handed it to Vasquez, keeping a tight grip on her end long enough to whisper, “This isn’t over.”

Lucy climbed off the desk with as much dignity as she could muster, which was to say, none. Alex had to offer a hand so that Lucy didn’t lose her balance when her ankle rolled. Limping back to the office and using Danvers as support didn’t help Lucy’s bruised ego at all.

Alex froze at the sight of the empty box left over from Supergirl’s visit earlier in the day. “Ah. So that’s how she got you.”

Lucy shrugged. “I’m not usually that easy.”

“Oh, I believe that,” Alex laughed. “Does that mean you don’t want any of these? I haven’t gotten a box to myself in years.”

“And you won’t now either, Danvers. Hand over the donuts and no one gets hurt.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex Danvers has a type
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ****  
>   
> 


	5. Episode 5: Flaming Targets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy helps Alex come to some realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

 

**Flaming Targets**

 

The sun hung heavy in the desert sky. Hours of protocol review and practice took a toll, even on Lucy. But they needed the practice, considering the last year had tested all of their existing emergency protocols and found each and every one lacking in some way. Preventing and catching escapees was especially important, considering the worst of Fort Rozz was kept here at the desert base, rather than in the center of a populated city.

Lucy was all about limiting civilian casualties, it made for a nice change of pace from the military.

“Vasquez, how’d we do?”

“Several teams scored nearly perfect. Most did not, Parker’s team did especially poorly.”

Lucy frowned. “What’s the average?”

“Seventy-three percent.”

“I want weekly drills, that’s nowhere near good enough.”

“You got it, boss.” Vas nodded. “Twice for Parker’s team?”

“Of course.”

Vasquez laughed. “So, you want to place a bet on how Parker will respond?”

“A hundred says he immediately puts in a transfer request. Another that J’onn denies it just as fast.”

Lucy and Vasquez shared a smirk. Parker was notorious for his misogyny and was already running on thin ice with Pam. He was a great agent, so long as women weren’t involved in leadership roles. Separating Parker and Danvers was essential to preventing Danvers’ arrest for murder, but if it were up to Lucy, he would have been gone long ago. Unfortunately, Parker was a relative of a member of the Defense Committee, so Lucy’s hands were tied. All she could do was give him enough rope to hang himself while she prayed he’d quit.

“Gomez’s team got a point off for West getting nicked by a shot.”

“That’s it?”

Vas nodded.

“Make a note. I’m pretty sure she’s up for a promotion soon.”

“She is.”

“Speaking of, when are you going to accept a promotion, Vas.”

“When it doesn’t require transferring out of National City or dealing with Parker.”

Lucy laughed. “What’s the matter, Vas, afraid you’ll miss us?”

“Nah. None of the other bases are quite so… lively. The raise wouldn’t make up for the loss in bookie fees.”

“Please don’t get caught by Pam, Vas. Gambling _is_ illegal.”

“Please,” Vas snorted. “Pam is the biggest participant we have. HR knows all, after all.”

Lucy nodded. It made sense, HR and Pam were aware of everything. Lucy swore that, aside from CADMUS, the DEO definitely had moles… they just happened to belong to Pam from HR. Some of the things that woman found out were ridiculously well-kept secrets. Pam knew J’onn was an alien before anyone else, and already had the paperwork ready when he was pardoned for assuming Hank Henshaw’s identity.

Lucy could only hope to one day wield such power.

“Alright, Vas. Pack it up. You can schedule the follow-ups after a shower.”

The camera was listed among the property damaged in Supergirl’s attempt to stop the robbery. Lucy felt bad, she knew that thing was important to James, one of the last ties he had to his father.

But she didn’t feel bad enough not to want to strangle him for getting involved in the first place. If he hadn’t stepped in, he wouldn’t have had his ass handed to him, and he _and his camera_ would both be in one piece.

Sometimes Lucy wondered if moving to National City was worth the heart attack she was undoubtedly going to have one of these days.

The concrete, the _hospital_ , Lucy was getting a headache from all the forms sent up by accounting and legal. Three uninjured civilians wanted to sue Supergirl for letting those guys get away.

Lucy was _really_ beginning to regret offering to deal with the legal side of things while J’onn handled most of the field work.

The _one_ time she bet on Alex and lost. Lucy shook her head. She was stuck with it now, at least for another few months. Or until she convinces J’onn to take a bet she can _win_.

She drops the stack of files on Winn’s desk, startling him out of whatever nerdy thing he’s doing. “Hey, Schott. Where’s Danvers?”

“Uh. Crime scene maybe. She should be back soon.” He frowned. “You’re not-- you’re not gonna make me take that to Pam are you? Because she gives Alex a run for her money.”

Lucy clenched her jaw shut. She wasn’t sure who would find that more insulting, Pam or Alex. “No, Schott. I’ll do it. You keep your eyes on the screen and not on any of your toys there.”

“They are _action figures_ ,” he protests.

It took her ten minutes to drop off various bits of paperwork and signatures, and a few curious conversations as to why she was making the trip herself. Most of those questions, Lucy ignored, much the way she ignored the pointed looks from Pam herself. Lucy needed to get out of the desert base every so often so that she didn’t kill Parker, there wasn’t anything more to it than that.

Swinging by the Center was just because she wanted to say hello to J’onn and certainly for no other reason than that.

“She hasn’t really been acting like… Maggie.”

Lucy perked up at the cop’s name.

“You know? She’s normally so tough, but now she just seems so vulnerable,” Alex said as she leaned against one of the desks.

Lucy’s heart dropped. She faked a smile and smacked Alex with her newly-empty folder. “Who’s what now, Danvers?”

“Maggie’s been down. I just wish I could help her.”

“Oh really?”

“Her girlfriend dumped her,” Alex said.

“Yeah, I dunno. I try to stay out of other people’s relationships.

“Mm-hmm. Like you stayed out of Kara’s relationships?”

Winn avoided both Lucy and Alex’s eyes. “Okay, now, that was different. I was into Kara. It’s not like you’re into this Maggie person.”

Lucy snorts. She can’t help herself.

Alex frowns in confusion, and Winn spins to look at her.

Lucy waved them both off, “Sorry, I thought I was going to sneeze.”

The system beeps, distracting Alex from her staredown with Lucy.

“Woah, woah. There’s another attack. This one’s at Jefferson and Park.”

Lucy took advantage of their distraction and slipped away. The folder bent under the weight of her fist.

 

* * *

 

“Major Lane are you alright?”

“Mm-hmm. Yeah. Why do you ask?”

J’onn stared at her, eyebrows raised.

“I’m fine.”

He kept staring.

Lucy refused to fidget. She’d had far too much training to fall for the dad face like the Danvers sisters did.

Still he stared.

Lucy cleared her throat. “How is the liaison with the NCPD going?”

“Sawyer? She and Danvers seem to be working well. Why do you ask?”

“New program, no precedent. I wanted to make sure that it’s a help and not a hindrance,” Lucy lied.

“Mm-hmm. Speaking of new programs, how did the exercises go?”

“Parker’s team more or less failed, as expected.”

“Yes, I got the transfer request. I’m not approving it.”

Lucy smirked. “Good, I needed that money to spring for pizza during the next game night. Feeding Kara is expensive.”

“Why does he keep applying for a transfer?”

Lucy didn’t laugh. She cackled. “He forgets that Danvers moved here.”

J’onn’s lips twitched. It wasn’t likely he would ever forget the day Alex laid Parker out with one punch not once, not twice, but _three times_ in the same day. Not a single one of those times had been in the sparring ring. The last one had been while Alex was locked in a holding cell until she cooled off, and the jackass opened the door to taunt her.

Lucy and J’onn had begun negotiating the base split after the second one. They expedited the process after punch number three, putting Parker on Administrative Leave while limiting Danvers to the labs.

Alex had no regrets. Lucy and J’onn would have cheered her on if they could have gotten away with it. Parker was a grade-A asshole.

The slight crook in his nose still made Lucy smile.

It had been the hottest thing Lucy had seen in months.

It was-

“Major?”

So sometimes Lucy forgot J’onn could read minds.

Lucy shook her head. “Anyway. We’re going to continue running drills until the teams have it down. Teams with scores 20 percent below acceptable will run them twice a week on top of normal duty until they reach a satisfactory average. That’s why Parker tried to run away.”

“Hmm. We should run them here, too, I think.”

“That’s a great plan, especially if you’re going to keep housing prisoners in the middle of the third-most populated city in California.”

J’onn’s eyes narrowed.

Lucy smiled back, unrepentant. “I’ll send you the videos, if you’d like them for evals.”

“Yes, thank you, Major. I’ll be sure to have Danvers schedule the exercises as soon as we’ve reviewed the tapes.”

“Tapes aren’t a thing, J’onn.”

“Get out of my office, Lane.”

“That’s no way to speak to your superior, Co-Director.”

Lucy ducked the ball of paper he threw at her head, laughing as she went.

 

* * *

 

Lucy changed immediately upon arriving home. DEO blacks were much more comfortable than formal Army-wear, but nothing beat her faded old Army tee and the old pair of sweats she’d stolen from James years before. Lucy liked that she could forego socks by sliding around her hardwood floors with her feet tucked into the too-long pants, even after she rolled the waist repeatedly.

Her Lean Cuisine dinner was it’s usual state of congealed and still slightly cold, but it was dinner, and she’d had worse in the Army. Even still, she didn’t want it to hit room temperature.

A knock interrupted Lucy’s attempt to wolf down dinner. She carried it with her to the door, absolutely not running and sliding along the floor and bumping shoulder-first into the wall like some teenager left home alone. She took a bite and stood on the tips of her toes. Lucy cursed when she was still too short to see out of the peep hole.

When she rented the apartment, it hadn’t occurred to her to test the peephole height without shoes. She jumped up, futilely trying to catch a peek at her visitor.

“Lucy, it’s me.”

Lucy shoved another bite in her mouth before opening the door. She was sure to be super attractive in her pjs with alfredo all over her face. So much so that she didn’t even bother swallowing before speaking. “Danvers, what are you doing here?”

“Maggie thinks we’re dating,” Alex said as she shoved past.

“Okay,” Lucy said into the empty hallway.

She turned to find Alex already rummaging through her fridge. “Please, help yourself.”

Alex hit her head on the fridge again, and Lucy didn’t hold back the snicker as the curses got creative, and probably Kryptonian in nature.

“Do you have anything stronger than beer?”

Lucy shut the door and padded over like the fully grown adult she was. “Should I be insulted that the thought of us dating makes you want to drink?”

“No. Yes! I mean, no, you’re gorgeous, I’d be lucky to have you, but I’m _straight_.”

Lucy frowned. “Yeah, I still can’t figure out if I’m insulted or not.”

Alex handed her a beer. “Apparently we act like a couple.”

“I have heard that yes, what’s the big deal?”

“I’m straight.”

“And I’m bisexual, what’s your point?”

Alex froze. “Wait, you are?”

Lucy tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. “Have you forgotten my mile high flight attendant already?”

“I…” Alex picked at her beer’s label. “I hadn’t thought much about it.”

Lucy slid onto the seat in front of where Alex stood. “About what?”

“Any of it.”

Lucy crossed her arms and rested her head on them. “Never?”

“I had Kara. And boyfriends.”

“And?”

Alex shrugged.

Lucy started at Alex as she fidgeted. “Alex, c’mon, talk to me.”

“Why did Maggie think we were dating?”

“Probably because I scream queer, blazing bisexual and all.”

“Do I?”

Lucy hesitated. “You, uh…”

Alex popped the top on her beer. She took a long sip. “I’ve only ever dated men.”

“That… doesn’t prove anything one way or another, Alex.” Lucy paused. “I dated men only through my service because of DADT. That doesn’t make me any straighter.”

Alex nodded.

“Alex, honey. It’s fine if the question made you wonder things.” Lucy reached for Alex’s arm. “It’s fine if you haven’t ever thought about it.”

Alex took another drink. “Right. Thanks for the beer. I’ll see you later.”

Lucy frowned and watched Alex leave. Her dinner was cold, she was down a beer, and she had no idea what the hell just happened.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy wasn’t expecting to see Alex for a few more days. She figured Alex had enough on her mind that deep talks with Lucy wouldn’t rank high on her list of things to do. So when she stormed into the DEO, into J’onn’s office while they discussed the threat of alien guns, Lucy was taken by surprise.

“Luthor asked Kara and Supergirl could attend the fundraiser tonight.”

“Kara told you this?”

“I was there when she swung by Kara’s to ask if she could get in touch with Supergirl for her.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Little Luthor has your sister’s address?”

“Yes, and if that’s not bad enough, Kara thinks they’re _friends_.”

“Do I need to make an appearance as Supergirl?” J’onn asked.

“You volunteered a little quickly for that, J’onn. Aren’t you concerned about Luthor’s intentions?”

“I have concerns, Major Lane.” He paused. “I also enjoy the skirt.”

Lucy snorted. “Right. Anyway. She came by Kara’s. What did she say?”

“She looked like I ran over her dog, first of all. At least until we told her I’m Kara’s sister.”

“Oh _really_?” Lucy asked.

“And then she just _asked_ if Kara could reach out to Supergirl. How does she know they know each other?”

“Danvers, before you freak out, did you talk to your sister about any of this?”

“No, I didn’t have the chance. She did ask me to have Winn keep an eye out for those guns though.”

“So we’ll get some people on hand, Alex. We’ll keep an eye on her.”’

“Yeah, but who’s going to keep an eye on _Luthor_.”

“You think she’s up to something, Alex?” Lucy asked. “I thought she was trying to turn things around.”

“That’s what she _wants_ us to think.”

“You sure you’re not jumping the gun?”

“Danvers is right. We should be cautious,” said J’onn.

“I know I yelled at you about keeping Mon-El here, but I’m not sure that applies here. This a fundraiser, maybe she’s serious about changing things,” Lucy argued.

“We’ll keep an eye out anyway,” said J’onn.

Lucy snorted. “Right. We’ll keep an eye out for your sister’s latest admirer.”

Alex glared at her, and Lucy couldn’t quite bring herself to care. Lena Luthor was an LGBT icon, after all. It wasn’t her fault Alex had some cultural catching up to do.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy called up Sawyer, requesting an increased presence at the gala.

“What’s going on, Lane?”

“We have reason to suspect your robbery suspects will be on hand to relieve some of Luthor’s donors of their property.” Lucy said. “Supergirl will be onsite with backup, but I thought your people might want the collar, provided we sit in on interrogation.”

“That sounds fair,” Sawyer said cautiously. “What’s in it for you?”

“Call it an act of faith, Sawyer.”

“Sure.” Sawyer paused. “Is Danvers okay? I didn’t mean to scare her off.”

“What are you talking about, Sawyer?”

“She didn’t tell me. I accidentally assumed you two were a thing, that’s my bad.”

Lucy sighed. “While I wouldn’t complain, Danvers is single.”

“Oh. Right. Well, is she okay?”

“She’s fine, just busy. Give her a call yourself.”

“I will, thanks. And thanks for the head’s up.”

Sawyer didn’t specify if she meant about the potential robbery or Alex’s single status. Lucy was beginning to regret the phone call in its entirety, as her stomach began to twist.

She wasn’t sure how she was going to get herself out of this one.

 

* * *

 

If there were one thing she wouldn’t complain about, it was pretty women showing up at her door late at night.

Alex Danvers especially.

Alex armed with donuts and beer was even better.

Lucy would have liked to have had a little warning so that Alex didn’t catch her in ratty pjs for the second time in a week, but at least this time she wasn’t wearing pasta.

“Danvers, what a surprise.”

“Hey, Luce. You up for movies tonight?”

“Um. Sure.”

Alex set the beer on the counter and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, sorry. I should have asked. I grabbed the donuts to hang with Kara before she told me she’d be busy training Mon-El.”

“Mon-El, right. How’s that going?”

“If he isn’t fired, he will be soon.” Alex’s eyes darted around, taking in Lucy’s pj’s last. “No, seriously, if you’d rather go to bed, I can go home.”

“No, movies sound great, Danvers. Grab a beer and share the donuts. We can do dessert while we wait for the pizza I ordered.”

Alex froze in the process of removing the cap. “You didn’t order-”

“No,” Lucy laughed. “I didn’t get pineapple pizza. I must have known you were coming, because I got pepperoni, you tasteless peon.”

Alex grinned and handed the first beer to Lucy. “Good, I’d hate to keep all the donuts to myself.”

“You and Kara and your donuts. And junk food. A girl will get fat hanging around you two.”

“Pft. You’d look great regardless.”

“Thanks, Danvers,” Lucy smiled. “I’ll never know how you keep up with Kara’s eating. She’s an alien.”

“I work out.”

Lucy took a sip and watched Alex take a bite of donut. Alex’s eyes closed in pleasure as the sugar hit and Lucy nearly dropped her beer as Alex’s tongue darted out to taste the icing caught on her lips.

Lucy tightened her hold on the bottle. “Which reminds me. I need a rematch. “

“I knocked you on your ass.”

“I let you. You’d had a bad week.”

Alex leaned forward. “Oh really. You _let_ me.”

“Mm-hmm. You know I’d much rather have you under me,” Lucy purred.

Alex pulled back, ears turning red. She coughed.

The doorbell rang and Alex sprang into action. “I’ll get it, I invited myself over.”

Lucy shrugged. The pizza was already paid for, worst Alex could do was tip the guy extra. Lucy grabbed the donuts and her beer and headed for her couch. Alex joined soon after, huffing and carrying extra beers with the pizza.

“You could have told me you paid for it.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“You’re an ass, Major Lane.”

“And what an ass I have. What are we watching?”

“You have Netflix, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I was doing some research and…” Alex paused. “Um. Are there any… with happy endings?”

Lucy frowned. “Any what?”

“Any movies?”

“Work with me here, Danvers. Any _what_ movies?”

Alex fidgeted. “Um. With women.”

Lucy took a sip of her drink. She paused, the bitter liquid sitting on her tongue. Her eyes widened and shot to Alex, who was steadily avoiding her gaze. “Oh. _Oh._ Um. There’s a few. What kind were you thinking of? Action, romance… or?”

“Actions an option?” Alex perked up.

“Sort of. It’s campy as hell, and as a superspy you’ll probably hate it, but it’s funny and kind of a right of passage.”

“Um. Okay, sure.”

Lucy grabbed the remote. “Great, I haven’t seen D.E.B.S. in forever.”

As much as she enjoyed the movie, she failed to catch most of it. Instead she watched Alex, watched her face light up as she laughed, and the recognition as the characters moved about their lives.

Alex’s eyes were glued to every hint of romance. Lucy was pretty certain that Alex had been sipping an empty bottle for the last half hour of the movie and hadn’t noticed. Her pizza and donuts were barely touched.

The movie ended and Alex barely moved. She took a bite of pizza and followed it up with a sip of her beer, and finally realized it was empty.

“Um. That was… That was…”

“Awful and campy, I know, but we don’t get much feel good. Need a bottle opener?”

Alex grabbed her keys and opened it with a party trick Lucy hadn’t seen since college. “I’m good. Are there… any more like that?”

“Mm… Not like that, not really. Carol’s up though, that implies a happy ending? No lesbians harmed in this one.”

“Yeah, yeah I heard that was a thing.”

“You good with romance?” Lucy asked.

“Not usually.”

Lucy smirked. “You’ll like this one, I think.”

It was late, when the movie ended. Late enough that Lucy got to watch Alex struggle to keep her eyes open, her eyes glued to the screen. When the credits rolled, she leaned heavily against the back of the couch, beer number three empty and dangling from her hand.

“So. That was… that’s a happy ending?”

“Happier than most. The book’s got more detail if you want, I have an old copy from before they changed the title.”

Alex yawned. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

“I hope you know you’re staying here tonight, Danvers.”

“I’m fine, Lane.”

“Nope. You can choose the bed or the couch, but you’re staying here.”

“Couch is a little crowded for both of us.”

Lucy smirked. “I could make you think otherwise.”

Alex’s skin, flush with the beers, turned even more red, bypassing her ears entirely. “Lucy!”

“Seriously, Alex. It’s late. Pick your spot, and I’ll take the other.” Lucy reached for the empty bottles and the pizza box. “Actually, you should probably take the bed. You’re too tall for the couch.”

“I’m not taking your bed, Luce. Couch is fine.”

Alex swung her legs up to make her point. She frowned when she realized she’d have to curl up to fit. “Why the hell did you get such a small couch?”

“Matches my fridge.” Lucy snarked. “Take the bed, Danvers.”

“Nope. Toss me a blanket.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. She finished up tossing their mess and grabbed a blanket from her closet. She walked back to Alex and resisted the urge to throw it at her stubborn face. “Here, Alex. You need a real pillow?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Lying ass.”

Alex spread the blanket out over herself and made a face at Lucy. She fluffed the couch pillow and made a show of making herself comfortable.

“You’re a mess, Danvers. Sleep well.”

Lucy was halfway to her room when Alex’s voice interrupted her, quiet in the darkened room.

“Hey, Luce?”

“Yeah, Alex?”

“It doesn’t make a difference to you, does it?”

Lucy shook her head. “Alex, you’re you. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“Thanks, Luce.”

“Night, Danvers.”

“Night, Lane.”

 

* * *

 

Lucy woke before Alex, which surprised her. Danvers always struck her as the type to go for morning runs, hitting the streets as the sun rose, catching her second wind on the way back and all that other bullshit Lucy had been told by runners her entire life. She tried to be quiet as she slid into the bathroom for her morning routine, mostly succeeding as Alex was still out cold when Lucy returned to the living room.

Lucy paused by the couch to tuck the blanket more firmly around Alex. Or at least, as best she could, considering the angles at which Alex’s limbs hung off the various sides of the couch.

It was less surprising to Lucy that the smell of coffee woke Alex up. The smell of pancakes on the griddle weren’t enough, but once the pot Lucy started began to drip, a sleepy Alex was peeking over the edge of the couch.

She was adorable. Her hair stuck up at odd angles, fisting her hands to rub sleep from her eyes like a toddler. She even wore her blanket like a cape as she stumbled her way to Lucy’s small kitchen.

“Coffee.”

“Is a thing that exists, yes.”

“Please?” Alex asked, flashing her best puppy eyes.

Lucy rolled her eyes, but went in search of her spare mugs. She pointedly ignored Alex’s snickering when she needed to stretch to reach the mugs on the second shelf. She poured a cup and offered it to Alex, only to pull it away just as Alex reached for it. Lucy raised an eyebrow and stared.

Alex stuck her tongue out. “Thank you, Major Lane, for your gracious gift of coffee. Whatever would I do without this small kindness in the morning?”

“Drag your hungover ass into work late like Schott did?” Lucy offered.

“Probably,” Alex said. She inhaled deeply before savoring her first sip of coffee. Her eyes closed and a little smile stretched around a pleased hum.

Lucy had seen less explicit pleasure in porn.

“You alright there, Alex?”’

“Shhh… the coffee and I are having a moment.”

“I can see that. I’ve had less fun with my shower head.”

Alex choked.

Lucy was quite pleased with herself. Waking up to Alex Danvers having coffee in her kitchen was certainly something she could look forward to.

 


	6. Episode 6: Hall of Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

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**Hall of Mirrors**

 

Lucy and Winn were seated in a dark corner of the bar, in theory catching up. Lucy was keeping an eye on Kara (and maybe a little on J’onn) as she and the boy wonder drank. Lucy made a face as yet another drink was sent over by a pretty offworlder.

“Has Kara ever been drunk before, Winn?”

“Mmm… nope, no not that I can think of?”

Lucy nodded. She would keep an eye on her then, at least until Alex showed up. Sawyer was nearby, setting up the table for a round of pool. That usually meant Alex was coming in, although there was a time or two Lucy had seen the woman practicing while Alex was on duty.

When the two played together, however, Lucy had never seen two people try harder to fail.

“So, uh, Lucy. You and James make up yet?”

Lucy turned to face Winn. She wasn’t impressed and her face showed it. “What do you think?”

Winn shrugged and played with his drink. “C’mon, Luce. He’s sorry he hurt you.”

“But not sorry he lied,” she snorted. “We’ll deal with it, Winn, we always do.”

“Right. You always do. That’s why you broke up, because you two deal with it.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Isn’t that dealing with it?”

She took a deep pull of her drink. She swirled the remainder in her glass before setting it down heavily. “You should be glad we broke up, Schott. If I’d found out he lied about Clark and we were still together, you’d be down a best friend.”

“Pft. Kara’s my best friend.”

Lucy laughed. “Right. Because nothing changed when you confessed your feelings.”

“ _James told you about that?_ ”

“See. Your bestie.”

“Yeah, I guess. But Kara’s still my girl-best friend.”

Lucy shook her head with a fond smile. She looked up at an extra-loud snort. Winn turned to look over the back of his chair. It was Kara, sinking down in her seat and laughing hysterically at the man-boy. He was splitting his time flirting with Kara as well as every other woman in the bar. And one offworlder with tentacles that Lucy was relatively certain actually considered itself male-aligned.

Movement at the door caught her attention. Alex had finally shown up. Lucy waved to catch her attention and pointed her at Kara. Alex frowned in confusion, but went to talk to her sister.

Kara taken care of, Lucy turned her attention to Winn. “So, now that Clark is gone and Kara is taking time for herself... who do you have your sights on now?”

“What? Pft. No, I mean, why would you even include Clark with Kara?”

Lucy raised her eyebrows.

“I, uh. I’m fine being single.”

Lucy picked up her drink, keeping her eyes steady on her friend.

Winn blushed.

Lucy stared.

“I’m not a cape chaser!” he blurted.

“Oh, I never thought you were,” Lucy said. “I just thought you might be a fellow member of the Pretty People Admiration Society.”

“The Pretty People Admiration Society?”

“Mm-hmm. They’re both quite pretty, objectively speaking.”

“Uh, sure.”

“I mean, if he weren’t my brother-in-law, I’d consider him a runner-up to James, body-wise. Can’t give him too much credit after all, he doesn’t exactly work for it.”

Winn smirked, his cheeks dusted a light red. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m giving up men, but you’re still a catch, Schott.”

“Going single? I’ve been there.”

“Oh,” Lucy said, her eyes drifting over to Alex. “I didn’t say that.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by his phone going off.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy tagged along, giving Alex a hand at dragging the drunken Kryptonian with them. Kara was heavier than she looked.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Yes, I’m sure you are,” J’onn muttered from just ahead of them.

Lucy snorted.

“Everything is fine, a-okay.”

“Let’s just take a seat, huh?” Lucy said. “C’mon, there you go.”

She and Alex somehow managed to get Kara into a chair, nearly losing her as it spun. They both hesitated nearby until Kara looked steady. Lucy nudged the chair a little closer to the desk.

“Where do…” Kara paused, looking up at J’onn to her right. “You are… _really_ tall.”

“Mm-hmm,” he agreed.

J’onn dropped his jacket next to Kara and moved around her. Alex and Lucy stepped out of the way, nearly laughing as Kara pouted and sank further into her seat.

“Hey, where’d you go?”

Alex was too busy snickering to do anything. Lucy was pretty sure that Alex actually had her phone recording, just barely pulled out of her pocket. Lucy rolled her eyes and gently spun Kara’s chair around.

“Oh, hiiiiii.”

Alex snorted so hard she almost dropped her phone.

Lucy shook her head at her favorite Kryptonian. She couldn’t blame Alex, most older siblings bought their younger ones a drink for their twenty-first birthday, and that had come and gone for Kara. It didn’t help that Kara was acting like a kitten who’d just been tossed into a big bag of catnip.

Winn slid into his seat, typing away. “I can’t believe she’s drunk.”

“What’s the emergency, Schott?”

“Mon-El took me to Happy Hour!” Kara giggled.

“Not exactly an emergency, honey,” said Alex.

“He knows how to drink drinks.”

“Of course he does,” said Lucy. _Because he’s a fuckboy_ she left hanging in the air.

“C’mon, let’s move it along.”

“Yeah, okay… Thorul Arctic Research Station in Norway…”

Winn played a short clip of a panicking scientist pleading for help.

“So, after the SOS went out, nobody has been able to contact them. The government put the whole thing under quarantine until the DEO could investigate.”

Lucy frowned. “Until _we_ investigate a station in _Norway_?”

Winn shrugged.

“How does Norway even know we exist?”

“When President Marsdin announced the Amnesty Act, she made the first move in the world to welcome offworlders. Privately, she defended the decision to allies by announcing that the U.S. government had specialists for policing them,” said J’onn.

“The DEO.” Lucy pursed her lips. “Why was I not informed of this?”

“That might be my fault,” J’onn said, “I meant to discuss it with you, but with the attack on the president, I just didn’t make time for it. I didn’t think it would be relevant any time soon.”

Lucy huffed. Alex bumped shoulders and made a face at her.

“I’m truly sorry, Major.”

“At least _you_ know how to apologize,” Lucy muttered.

“Alright, Supergirl and I will fly up there.”

A loud snore interrupted them.

They turned to look at Kara. She’d grabbed J’onn’s jacket and was using it as a pillow, passed out on the table with one arm dangling down. Lucy was pretty sure that Kara was drooling. Alex stifled a laugh, Winn didn’t bother, and J’onn let out a frustrated sigh. He looked up to the sky in a way that reminded Lucy of her mother’s habit when she and Lois got into trouble.

“Alex and I will take the jet,” J’onn muttered. “Let’s go.”

Alex patted Lucy’s shoulder as she and J’onn left her in charge of Winn, the base, and their drunken local superhero.

Lucy did what any self-respecting government official would do with a drunken Super on her hands…

She grabbed a sharpie.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at Winn, who raised his hands in surrender and turned to face his computers. She smirked and got to work.

 

* * *

 

 

Alex was already half drunk when Lucy came home to find her leaning against Lucy’s front door. A brown paper bag was at her feet, and her head occasionally pulled back only to release and thump softly against the door.  

“Alex?”

“Oh heeeeey, Luce.”

“Alex, if you needed me, all you had to do was call.”

“Didn’t wanna bother you. Director stuff’s important.”

Lucy slid her shoulder under Alex’s arm and moved her out of the way. She unlocked the door, ducked to grab the bag, and gently guided her second drunk Danvers this week. “C’mon, Danvers, you’re a mess. Let’s get you in here before you get arrested.”

Alex practically collapsed onto the barstool, immediately resting her head in her hands, elbows on the counter. Her hair cascaded down, hues of red and brown mixing to hide her face.

Lucy quietly hid the brown bag, and the bottle contained within, under her sink alongside her own collection. She moved to Alex’s side, resting her hands on Alex’s shoulders. She rubbed softly, giving Alex a few minutes to herself.

Lucy couldn’t wait forever. “Danvers, what happened?”

“The other night, Maggie said I should tell my family about… you know… liking girls.”

“Okaaay.”

“An’, you know, you took it well, so I figured Kara would too, you know? It’s Kara. It’s always been me an’ Kara.”

“Did she not take it well?”

Alex’s shoulders shrugged under Lucy’s hands. “I… I don’t know. It got awkward. I started explainin’ about Vickie, ‘cuz it didn’t seem like Kara was gettin’ I meant _feelin’s_ -feelin’s.”

Lucy had no idea who Vickie was.

“And then she was asking about Maggie an’... an’ I didn’t want to talk anymore, so I left. I hadta finish my shift an’ I knew you were workin’, so I got started at home.”

Sawyer. Lucy didn’t know why she was surprised. “You didn’t drive here, right?”

“Nooo. Took a cab.”

Lucy patted Alex shoulders. “Okay, I’m going to get you a glass of water and a couple of Advil. Then I’m going to order Chinese and go change so we can watch a movie, okay?”

Alex looked up and wrinkled her nose. “You gonna eat all the dumplin’s?”

Lucy laughed. “No, Danvers, they’re all yours. I’ll even order extra.”

Alex dropped her head again. “Love you, Luce.”

Lucy set the water and pills down next to her friend. She hesitated and settled for a gentle pat to her friend’s head. “Be right back.”

Lucy decided that her comfiest pjs were best, washing off her makeup as quickly as possible. She was too slow though, the Chinese delivery guy come and gone before she was done. The downside to reliably fast service, though she hadn’t even heard the doorbell ring.

“I smelled it as soon as he got off the elevator,” Alex shrugged.

She looked slightly more alive than she had fifteen minutes ago. Lucy glanced at the counter and was glad to see an empty glass and the pills gone. “I hope you tipped him well.”

“Ten bucks.”

Between Lucy and Alex, all the delivery guys in the area had a habit of bumping them to the top of the list. Fifty percent tips will do that.

Alex was buried in the bag, only wobbling slightly in her seat as she pulled out cartons enthusiastically. Lucy’s chow mein was set to the side, Alex’s General Tso’s was as well. The first thing Alex dug into was, unsurprisingly, the dumplings. Two orders, and the first thing Alex did was shove two into her mouth at the same time.

“Danvers, that’s disgusting. Kara isn’t here, your food is safe.”

Alex chewed slowly. She shrugged. “You hid the booze. Eating my feelings feels appropriate.”

“Couch, Danvers, if you promise not to spill.”

“Spill feelings?”

“Spill food, you dumbass. Feelings are welcome, it’s a couch.”

“I hate shrinks.”

“Good thing I’m a lawyer then, huh?”

Alex balanced her other containers precariously. “I hate lawyers, too.”

“Fuck you and go sit down, Danvers.”

Lucy was less of a heathen and plated her food, grabbing two glasses of water before heading over to sit. She sat a little closer than necessary, bumping her shoulder against Alex’s. Alex dropped a whole two dumplings onto Lucy’s plate. Out of ten.

Lucy made a face. “Just for that we’re watching Imagine Me and You.”

“That sounds like a romance.”

“It is.”

“Gross.”

“It’s women, you’ll be fine.”

Alex shoved a dumpling in her mouth, suddenly silent on the subject.

Lucy snorted and reached for the remote.

An hour and a half later, Alex was barely awake. She didn’t resist when Lucy pulled the carton and the chopsticks from her hands. She resisted a little when Lucy stood and began tugging her up.

“No, Luce, wanna watch another.”

“You can watch another tomorrow after work. C’mon, up to bed.”

“This is m’bed.”

“Not tonight, Danvers.” Lucy grunted. “Jesus, you’re heavy.”

Lucy was glad Alex had changed prior to coming over. It took too much effort to shove Alex onto the bed and throw a blanket over her, Lucy wasn’t up changing her, too. She did pause to remove Alex’s shoes before leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Lucy had just cleaned up their mess and settled in on the couch when she nearly startled off the couch. As she realized the noise was just Alex snoring her head off, Lucy let off a quiet chuckle. She set her alarm and shoved a pillow over her head, wondering if that might be a dealbreaker for her.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy raced into the City’s Medbay as fast as she could. Days off meant nothing, not when her friends were hurt. Alex and Winn stood over the dessicated forms of J’onn and Kara, lying on those small hospital beds. She paused at the door, unsure of what to do or say.

Kara was surrounded by the glow of portable sunlamps. J’onn had no such benefit, since Martians just _were_ , with no aid from the sun. It was heartbreaking.

More so was the look on Alex and Winn’s faces. Even Mon-El was lurking nearby, looking concerned.

Alex paced, looking exhausted. Each movement was sharp and tense, her fingers stretched to their limits with every motion. “I don’t know. It might be one too many alien DNAs in his system, but he’s mutated.”

“Okay, well, that’s something the DEO can handle, right?” asked Winn.

“The DEO has its limits,” Lucy said, catching their attention. She walked into the room and paused next to J’onn, touching his hand softly. “He’s the only one of his kind that we’ve ever come into contact with.”

Alex shook her head and wrapped her arms tightly around her middle. Winn fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Any updates?”

Lucy spun. James ducked around Mon-El, now hovering in the doorway. She inhaled sharply, knowing a review of the DEO’s visitor policies was in desperate need of an update.

“Sorry,” said wonderboy, “I- I have to go.”

James shook his head and moved further into the room. “Are they going to be okay?”

“Kara will be, eventually,” said Alex. “The yellow sun lamps are bringing her back very slowly.”

Lucy glanced over at Kara, who looked little more than a mummy, with sunken cheeks and dulled hair. She’d never seen the vibrant Little Engine That Could look so still. “Too slowly, if this thing attacks again.”

“And J’onn?” James asked.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” replied Alex.

“Yeah, kind of hard to get a transfusion when you’re the last son of Mars,” Winn muttered.

Alex frowned. “He’s the last son, but he’s not the last…”

Lucy caught her eyes. Alex’s face sparked with hope, something that had been sorely missing since Lucy arrived. Lucy nodded.

“Stay here.” Alex pointed at Winn. “Monitor them. You let me know if anything changes.”

Alex’s hand brushed Lucy’s arm as she practically ran out of the room. Lucy half-turned to watch her go.

She nearly missed James stepping up to Kara’s side. It was a bittersweet realization when his attention was focused solely on Kara, that he had yet to even acknowledge Lucy was in the room.

He crouched down next to Kara. “Hey, you.”

He turned to Winn. “Winn. This can’t wait.”

Winn froze, his eyes darting to Lucy.

“What can’t wait?” she asked.

James flinched. He looked over her shoulder at her. “Software malfunction at CATCO. Someone’s trying to hack us.”

“Winn doesn’t work at CATCO.”

“He’s the best chance we’ve got.”

Lucy stared at James. Her jaw clenched. “Fine. I’ll stay here and update Alex. Go do what you have to do.”

She watched them skitter away, Winn looking back at her, once, just as nervously as he had before.

The bittersweet feeling was quickly replaced by a burning rage.

He was lying to her.

Again.

Alex was back fairly quickly with M’gann. Lucy sat in a chair in the corner, propped up against the wall. She waved tiredly at them.

M’gann only had eyes for J’onn. “What happened to him?”

“He was attacked by a parasitic organism.” Alex walked closer to the monitors. “His vitals are getting worse. We don’t have much time.”

M’gann took in a stuttering breath as she approached J’onn. Lucy watched her take slow, measured steps, her hand shaking as she reached out to touch him.

“What can I do?” M’gann asked. “I’m not a doctor.”

“He needs a blood transfusion. From you.”

“My blood?”

Alex was already gathering supplies. Lucy was a little surprised Alex had that much faith in a virtual stranger.

Alex looked up. “The blood of a Green Martian.”

M’gann glanced between J’onn and Alex, her face panicked. “I- I can’t do that.”

“I don’t have time for squeamishness. You have to help me save him.”

Lucy stretched her legs out and watch Alex shift into Agent Badass.

“You don’t understand! If J’onn knew, he would _not_ want this.”

“We are not on Mars,” Alex said. She softened slightly, shifting once more from threatening badass to the adopted daughter of a Martian. “So, whether you’re saying no because of custom, or history, or your own _personal_ reasons, none of that matters right now. He is _dying_ . He _will_ die if _you_ do not help him. Please.”

Lucy froze. Alex’s eyes were filled with tears, and M’gann’s were no better. Lucy’s were too, for that matter. J’onn meant a lot to her, meant even more to Alex.

“You’re his only chance,” Alex pleaded.

It was clear that he meant something to M’gann too, when she began removing her flannel.

“Thank you,” said Alex.

Alex moved back to gathering her supplies, shooting a relieved glance at Lucy. Lucy let out a deep breath and sank into her chair, ready to watch Dr. Danvers go to work.

M’gann sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. She leaned close to J’onn and whispered in a language that Lucy didn’t understand. The pleading tone, though, Lucy understood. She’d been begging J’onn and Kara both to hold on and come back to them not long ago herself.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was in the breakroom grabbing coffee when Kara woke up. The room was empty of everyone except J’onn when she came back. The headset that had monitored Kara’s vitals was tossed on the floor. She nudged it with her foot before cursing quietly.

To the command center it was.

“This is how Chernobyl happened,” Alex hissed into her comms.

Lucy cursed again. She shoved a coffee at Alex and stole a comms unit off the nearest agent. “Supergirl, what are you doing?”

“I have an idea, Major.”

“Do you even have clearance to be up?”

“No,” Alex said through gritted teeth. “No, she does not.”

Supergirl’s speech about people becoming who they were meant to be was a bit trite, in Lucy’s opinion, but it was her brand to bore with. Lucy was more concerned with why Alex thought Supergirl’s little idea might lead to the radiation poisoning the entire city. “Danvers, what is she doing?”

Alex shook her head.

“Last chance,” Supergirl offered. “Let me help you.”

The thing roared, his footsteps heavy over comms.

Lucy glanced over to Winn’s station, only to find him gone. She growled. “Henderson, where are the traffic cams?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The images were slow to load, blurry and filled with static. Supergirl held something bright in each hand, between her and the hands of the monster. Electricity buzzed.

“There is such a thing as too much power,” said Supergirl.

“Danvers, _what is she holding?_ ”

Supergirl answered for her sister. “Plutonium 239.”

Lucy ripped the comms from her ear and threw it at the same agent she stole it from. “Danvers, _how the fuck did your sister get her hands on Plutonium 239?_ ”

Alex winced.

On screen, the thing blew up, scattering to pieces.

Lucy turned to Alex, standing as tall as her boots would let her. Her back ramrod straight, she pointed one finger at Alex, poking her with every word. “You. You. Have. So. Much. Explaining. To. Do.”

“But Kara gets the paperwork, right?”

 

* * *

 

 

Three voicemails and 13 texts. That’s how many Lucy ignored before she finally agreed to meet James at the offworlder bar. She dressed to the nines, makeup and hair done like they hadn’t been since she quit CATCO. They might not be right for each other but she would be _damned_ if she didn’t show him what he was missing after all the shit that he pulled.

She smirked at the looks she received as she swayed her hips a little harder than necessary. Even Sawyer, practicing at the pool table, paused enough to give her a considering look. That one especially made her feel good.

He was actually waiting on her this time. Probably because she made it a point to be 30 minutes late. He stood when she got close, but this time he wasn’t stupid enough to offer a hug. He did, however, pull out a chair and offer her a glass of the most expensive human whiskey the bar carried.

It still tasted like shitty well-whiskey, but he tried.

“Thanks for coming, Lucy.”

“You’re buying, and I reserve the right to leave at any time.”

James shook his head. “I wouldn’t try to stop you.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

“No, really. I’m lucky you even came. I was an asshole.”

“Yes, you were,” she agreed.

“I should have apologized, not made excuses.” James sighed. “And you’re right. I should have fought harder for you. You wouldn’t have sold Clark out, just like you didn’t sell out Kara. Hell, as soon as you knew who she was, you jumped into rescuing Alex, and I’m pretty sure you hated her then.”

“Still do, some days,” she muttered into her drink.

James sipped his beer. “Liar.”

She shrugged.

“You know, Alex has been good for you. You’ve been good for her, too. She was so suspicious of everything when I got here, I’m pretty sure she tapped my phone and had agents following me after she found out that I knew.”

She had. There was some pretty hilarious footage in existence that Alex was saving for a rainy day. Considering he was Lucy’s asshat ex, Alex had been kind enough to put together a highlight reel for her. Lucy intended to have it run during every game night and major life event where a screen was available. If one wasn’t, Lucy had Alex’s word that she’d help hang a sheet and supply speakers.

But James’ future embarrassment wasn’t why she was at the bar. “You were saying?”

“Uh, right. I was an ass. About Clark, but especially about Kara. I didn’t think about how much that might hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

He did look genuinely sorry. He also refilled her drink when she emptied the first and didn’t say anything.

She was halfway through it when she decided to speak again. “I’m glad you apologized. Thank you for that.”

He knew better than to think that was her acceptance, or her forgiveness.

She threw back her drink again, and he got her another refill. He also knew better than to try and cut her off while she dealt with her feelings.

“So, what were you and Winn really doing?”

“I told you, there was a DDS attack on CATCO.”

Swing and a miss. Strike three.

“Winn built the firewall, our guys had no idea how to stop it-”

Lucy tuned out, unwilling to hear the lies that spilled so easily from his mouth. She let her gaze wander around the bar. She made note of the blue guy with cards up his sleeve playing other angry looking offworlders. M’gann was at the bar, shooting her a sympathetic look. Green Martians could read minds, and one day Lucy would remember that.

She looked away from M’gann and over to the pool tables. For half a second, she let herself admire Sawyer’s ass in those tight jeans, and forgave herself for understanding why Alex was so hung up on the cop. She was beautiful, outside of Lucy’s jealousy over Alex’s split time.

And then Alex strode in, with her own swagger. Tight jeans, leather jacket, heeled boots and all. She smiled brightly, widely, at Sawyer. She leaned against the pool table and stroked the green with every ounce of lady loving game Lucy would have sworn Danvers didn’t have. Lucy’s insides curled.

Whatever she said made Sawyer smile just as big. She offered a tight hug that Alex clung to.

The hook in Lucy’s stomach twisted tighter.

They separated, and Maggie headed towards the bar.

And then, in the smoothest move Lucy had ever seen, Alex reached out to Sawyer’s elbow. She tugged Sawyer back and into her arms, cradling Sawyer’s face in her free hand.

And Alex kissed her.

Lucy’s heart dropped. She paid no attention to James, still droning on about his imaginary cyber attack, choosing to gulp down her whiskey and relish in the cheap burn.

Her eyes never left them, even as they separated, eyes closed, still breathing in each other’s breath.

Maggie’s face changed into regret as she opened her eyes, while Alex’s stayed closed. Alex opened hers, and immediately registered the change. Alex’s face fell.

Lucy’s hand tightened on her glass.

Alex nodded in response to whatever Sawyer was saying, her hands dropping to clench at her sides. She backed away slowly, all of her previous happiness, all of her swagger gone, to turn swiftly and walk out of the bar. Alex didn’t look back when Sawyer called her name.

M’gann had left the bottle when Lucy wasn’t looking.

She sent a quick text to Kara, asking her to check up on Alex.

James was still talking when Lucy threw back her fourth drink. He stopped when she did the same with her fifth.

“Lucy?”

“I have to go. Thanks for the drinks.”

“Lucy, you-”

Lucy shoved back her chair and stomped over to the pool table. Sawyer was still staring at the door Alex left through, one hand holding the cue and one still touching her lips.

“Sawyer, we need to talk.”

Sawyer shook her head and turned to face Lucy. “Major Lane.”

Lucy slid into her most vicious courtroom smile.

And then she punched her.

  
  
  
  



	7. Episode 7: Master of Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie meets the crew and Lucy is proud of her handiwork. Lucy and Vas show Alex a good time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous art.

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**Master of Illusion**

“You know, for a place that caters to aliens, they have some pretty good chicken wings,” said Winn.

He and the asshole split up to take seats on either side of the table. James was stupid enough to take the seat next to Lucy. Alex nudged Lucy’s beer a little closer.

“How do you know that’s chicken?” asked Kara.

Winn froze and choked a bit as he tried to swallow. Kara smirked. Lucy and Alex shared an amused look before clinking their beers together and ignoring James entirely. It was a good thing they’d opted for queso to share, because anything involving cutlery might end with James needing medical attention.

It was safe to say that Lucy was still pissed.

The news flashed on the bar behind them.

_The latest in a series of armored truck robberies was thwarted last night when National City’s newest crime fighter took a stand._

“The new guy,” Kara scoffed. “Of course.”

“Guardian?” James cleared his throat. “I thought you said he helped you.”

“He did.”

“But?”

James leaned into the table. Winn froze, watching Kara.

Lucy watched them both curiously.

“But,” Kara continued. “I don’t know, I just don’t think the city should be putting its trust in him so quickly.”

James scoffed. “Well, I mean the armored truck robber that he just stopped wasn’t a joke.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. She felt more than saw Alex take a step back. She glanced over and saw Alex take a deep drink, quietly placing the bottle back on the table and edging further away from the spat.

“Apparently,” said James, “it was, like, three versus one.”

“How on earth do you know that?” Lucy asked.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t impressive. I just said I didn’t know if he’s trustworthy,” said Kara. She spoke assuredly, with wide, sweeping gestures.

James looked offended. “Well, what do you have against the guy?”

Lucy snorted. “Aside from laws barring interference in police matters, contaminated evidence, assault with deadly weapons and no government authority to give him oversight?” Lucy started counting off on her fingers.

Lucy shook her bottle and found it empty. Alex nudged her and nodded towards the bar, leaving to get them refills.

Kara nodded. “Also, why wear a mask? Why cover your face when you’re on the up and up? I don’t wear a mask. Neither does Clark.”

“I will say this about the guy,” Winn interrupted. “He photographs well. Like, well, his suit does.”

Alex dropped the beers on the table. “I bet he’s working with a partner.”

“Why-why would you say that?” asked Winn.

“I’m just saying, in every situation, Guardian seems to be one step ahead. That screams sidekick,” Alex argued.

Now Winn looked insulted.

If her suspicions were right, Lucy was going to kill them both and have Alex help her hide the bodies.

Actually, Alex might want to help with the killing. She was creative. If one of the boys was Guardian, she could help draw out Lucy’s revenge.

“Sidekick?” Winn laughed. “Okay, so if, if this guy actually had a number two, I think they would actually be more like equals.”

“My cousin worked with a vigilante once. Tons of gadgets, lots of demons. I mean, vigilantes are nuts.”

James smirked and pointed at Kara. “Or maybe you are just afraid of the competition.”

“No. No. No. No. Alex, Lucy, you agree with me right?”

“Oh no,” Lucy mocked. “The flying girl of steel is _clearly_ afraid of a lead-lined ninja turtle.”

Alex snickered into her beer.

“Masks, the voice changer thing, it’s _weird_ ,” Kara complained. “It’s weird.”

“Hey, Danvers.”

Alex choked on her beer.

Lucy glanced around Alex. It was Sawyer, uncertain and sporting a fading black eye that made Lucy smirk just a little.

Alex stood and adjusted her jacket, looking every bit the awkward baby gay deer just finding her legs.

“Hi. It’s been a hot minute. How are you?”

“Yeah. Good. Good, yeah.”

Lucy was beginning to wonder if their movie marathons were teaching Alex anything. She wasn’t the only one watching curiously.

Well, Winn was curious, and since James hadn’t actually looked away from his lies the other night, he’d never seen Alex come in, and Lucy didn’t bother to explain why she punched a cop. Kara was stiff, her eyes narrowed and watching Sawyer closely.

“Uh, everybody, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is, um, everybody. James, Winn, Kara. You know Lucy.”

“Oh! The sister! Oh, I’ve heard so much about you from Alex.”

Lucy was proud of Kara. The smile she forced would have fit right into a courtroom, laser eyes and all.

“And I have heard _all_ about you,” replied Kara.

Maggie glanced down and cleared her throat. She looked up at Lucy with a forced smile. “Major.”

Lucy’s eyes lingered on Sawyer’s bruised eye. “Yeah. Good to see you.”

“Uhh, Alex, can I borrow you a minute?” Sawyer asked.

“Yeah, yup. Sure.”

Sawyer offered the others a bright smile as she and Alex walked out of human ear shot.

James leaned forward. “Jesus, Luce, how hard did you hit her?”

Lucy smirked.

Kara and Winn gasped. “You hit her?!”

Lucy shrugged. “She had it coming.”

“Lucy, you barely even spoke to her before knocking her on her ass.”

Lucy stared at Kara before glancing at the pool table and back. “She had it coming.”

“Had what coming?”

“Uh, everything okay, Alex?” Kara deflected.

“Yeah, I’m good. Who had what coming, Lucy?”

“I got in a bar fight the other night,” Lucy said. She leaned over to make sure Sawyer was actually gone. “A cop’s face might have run into my fist.”

“A cop?” Alex squinted.

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s a story you’ll have to tell me one day.”

“One day,” Lucy agreed.

Alex shrugged it off and looked around. “So, where is Mon-El? I mean, doesn’t he practically live at this place?”’

“Oh, knowing him? He’s probably at Darla’s apartment. Or Eve’s apartment. Or with that blond Valeronian. What’s the word for a male Floozy?”

Alex paused to think. She was sure and deadpan in her delivery. “A Daxamite.”

Lucy nearly spit out her beer.

“Ha!” Kara knocked bottles with her sister. “Well, at least he’s having fun on Earth.”

“God I hope he’s using protection,” Lucy muttered. “I don’t want to hear Pam bitch about offworlder STDs.”

 

* * *

 

 

One of these days, Lucy would learn not to drink beer with the girl of steel and her steel-stomached sister. Until then, she’d let Kara buy her coffee and sticky buns at Noonan’s.

There were two on her plate when she arrived, but then Kara ate three and gave Lucy puppy eyes.

“So. You’re the one who gave Maggie a black eye?”

“I was at the bar, Kara,” Lucy sighed. “I saw everything, that’s why I texted you.”

Kara nodded. “Thank you for that.”

“Yeah, sure. You know I love Alex. I figured if she was going to talk to anyone, it would be you.”

“Yeah, she was into the bottle already by the time I got there. I had to go through the window, and even then her first reaction was to go into work.”

Lucy pointed a fork full of sticky bun at Kara. “No. She needs to stop working away her problems.”

Kara shrugged. “And you need to stop punching away yours.”

Lucy froze.

“Just because she hurt your best friend doesn’t mean you can punch her for it. Alex is my sister, Rao knows I want to, but it isn’t right.”

“You could kill her.”

“So could you, Major Blackbelt.”

Lucy shrugged. “I meant to talk to her. But James pissed me off, then she hurt Alex, and, well. She’s conveniently my height.”

“I think she’s taller than you, actually.”

“ _No_.”

Kara nodded. “Mm-hmm. Yep. Pretty sure she is.”

“Take that back, you menace.”

“Nope. Can’t do it, Luce. You’re just so pocket-sized!” Kara grinned.

“Take it back, or I’ll take back my sticky bun.”

“I bought it!”

“For _me_.”

Kara paused to glare at Lucy. Her eyes glinted.

And she shoved the entire bun into her mouth.

Lucy’s jaw dropped. “That… is disgusting.”’

Kara grinned back, half-chewed food and all.

 _And in breaking news, the NCPD just released a statement regarding Guardian. Recently released footage shows National City’s vigilante stopping a burglary… and then allegedly shooting the suspect_. _NCPD says he’s wanted for questioning, and should be considered armed and dangerous. If you see the vigilante, our viewers are asked to keep your distance and please report it to the police._

_We have received a copy of last night’s footage from an anonymous source. I have to warn you, what you might see is violent and may disturb viewers. Please watch responsibly._

Kara and Lucy’s head whip towards the television to catch sight of the video.

“I guess you might be right about him, after all, Kara.”

“I thought he shouldn’t be trusted,” Kara shook her head. “I didn’t think he was capable of straight murder.”

“You should probably get to CATCO, Kara. I’m sure this is a big deal, especially considering James’ hero-worship.”

Kara nodded. “Right, I’ll catch you later?”

“Yup.”

“Promise me no more punching?”

Lucy glanced away from the television. “Eh. No promises.”

Kara left and Lucy’s attention was drawn back to the television. The video played again on loop. She let out a slow, deep breath. “Shit.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was in Desert Command with Vasquez going through renovation plans when Alex stormed in. She looked pissed, nearly shaking with rage. And in her civvies, in the middle of the day.

“Danvers?”

“Major. Can we talk in your office?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, c’mon. Vasquez, we’ll continue later.”

Vas nodded and rolled the plans up.

Alex led the way to Lucy’s office. Lucy could practically feel the steam rising off of Alex, and made the decision to close and lock the door behind them. She didn’t think Alex would want interruptions if she was this upset.

“Alex, talk to me.”

Alex paced, running her hands through her hair. “Okay. First. James is Guardian. Winn’s helping. He’s the one who told me, swore up and down I couldn’t tell anyone, and it’s bad enough keeping this from Kara.”

Alex stopped. “I… you deserve better than being lied to again.”

Lucy swallowed. She clenched her firsts and sank into her chair. She inhaled, tilted her head back, and let the breath out slowly. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill them both.”

“Trust me, I’m very tempted to help. Those idiots are going to get themselves killed, if we don’t do it first.”

Lucy rolled her neck and took another deep breath. “You said that was first?”

Alex nodded and started pacing again. “Yeah. Yes. That’s the first thing.”

She made three rounds of the office before she stopped and tugged at her hair again. “You remember the bar the other night?”

“Yes?”

“Maggie came to check on me because I was, well avoiding her.”

“As you had every right to.”

“Yeah. So she… kind of… apologized. Said it wasn’t personal, and asked if we’re still friends.” Alex took a deep breath and started pacing again. “I said yes.”

Lucy flinched. “Okay?”

“So this morning, Winn came at me, asked me to get Maggie off James’ back.”

“That’s when he spilled?”

“Yeah. God, I want to kill him.”

“Okay, so what happened to get you all wound up?”

“I went to Maggie.”

“What did Sawyer do now?” Lucy asked slowly.

“We, uh, got into it when I wouldn’t tell her why I needed her to step back.” Alex stopped. She rocked back on her feet and fiddled with her hands. “I said it was classified, and she tried to play the friend card.”

Lucy didn’t say anything.

Alex bit her lip. “I kind of, well, went off? Said we weren’t friends, that we never were. That she, uh, made it seem like it was safe to come out because it meant we could explore the, you know, feelings between us. She’s great, so great, how could I not have feelings for her?”

Lucy gritted her teeth.

“But that, you know, she turned me down because she’s not into people… people like me, who take too long to figure it out. And that’s… that’s whatever. But it hurt. Being around her _hurts_ , Lucy.”

Lucy could relate. “She’s an idiot for letting you go, Danvers.”

“I… I’m an idiot, I totally misread things, and-”

“I don’t think you did, Danvers.” Lucy sighed. “Sit, you’re making me dizzy, alright? Look. You just came out, right? And yeah, it’s shitty that’s she’s using it as an excuse. Some women are like that. Some won’t touch a woman who’s been with men. It sucks, people suck, but that doesn’t make it all bad, okay?”

Alex frowned. “You-”

“Not the point Alex, but yeah. Sometimes being bi isn’t always accepted. Sometimes being bi isn’t so much twice the dating pool as it is twice the assholes.”

“I’m sorry, Lucy. You don’t deserve that.”

“And you don’t deserve to be toyed with by a woman who isn’t ready,” Lucy agreed. “I… can’t believe I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but she just broke up with her girlfriend right before you had your grand lesbian awakening, right?”

Alex nodded.

“Well, maybe that means she has wounds of her own to lick. Maybe she has feelings for you, maybe she doesn’t. Maybe she’s just as shit with feelings as you are.” Lucy grinned. “And maybe she deserved to get punched in the face by your best friend.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Lucy!”

“What? Supergirl has an image to maintain.”

“You could have been arrested!”

“Woulda been worth it.” Lucy leaned back and folded her hands behind her head. “I mean, I could have also hit James instead, but it’s now been established I would break my hand on his rock-hard skull.”

Alex snorted.

“Hey, Alex. It’s- it’s not you, okay? You’re hot, you’ve got a rockin’ bod, and a brain to match, okay? And you’re every bit the superhero your sister is, all without being genetically engineered perfection from outer space.”

That got the shy smile Lucy was looking for.

“What’s it like?”

“What’s what like?” Lucy asked.

“Falling for someone? Kara says it’s… like flying. It just feels like I’m plummeting to the ground without a parachute.”

“It can feel like flying, I guess. At first, maybe, when the infatuation sets in.” Lucy shrugged. “After a while though, when the dust settles and you’re with that person, I think it feels more like… coming home. I probably should have realized we wouldn’t work when I moved here, really. James felt more like a vacation home. Comfortable… but not quite right.”

Lucy inhaled and clapped her hands. “So hey, for now, we focus on clearing those idiots of murder charges, and we’ll think of something to get you feeling confident again, yeah?”

“Yeah. First though, I need to figure out where Kara went.”

“Kara?”

“She hasn’t checked in since trying to track down Guardian last night.”

Lucy frowned. “Unlike her. Yeah, you do that. Then the boys, yeah? And then fun.”

“What is fun?”

“I’ll drag your perky ass out of your lab and show you sometime soon, Danvers.”

Alex smiled from ear to ear. “It’s a date, Lane.”

 

* * *

 

 

This time Lucy stomped into the city command. “J’onn, you can’t just detain M’gann for being a White Martian.”

“She’s turning me _into one_ ,” J’onn growled.

“Because you _would die_ if she _didn’t_ help.”

“This _isn’t helping_.”

Lucy grabbed his arm and started to drag him back to his office. His hand kept flashing with lines of red. Her steps faltered and he shook her loose. He kept walking towards his office though, which was all she could ask for.

Lucy sighed. “J’onn.”

“The Green Martians were wiped out by her people. She admitted working at one of the camps.”

“I heard she tried to save some.” Lucy shook her head. “That should make a difference, J’onn.”

He leaned into her space, his hands shaking. “That’s why she isn’t _dead_ , Major.”

“This isn’t you, J’onn.”

“You didn’t mind when it was Mon-El.”

“We had no idea what he was capable of! M’gann doesn’t want to hurt anyone!”

“She was involved in the fight club.”

Lucy let out a frustrated growl. “You and I both know people purposefully put themselves out there to get their asses kicked for reasons other than bloodlust. Sometimes the blood they want to see letted _is their own_. _”_

Lucy knew the feeling. Alex did too. J’onn could have chosen any form in the world, but he chose the face of the man who wanted him dead, a black man in a country where the color of one’s skin was reason for punishment enough. They all had their demons, and they all had unhealthy coping mechanisms for it.

“She stays.”

Lucy made a note to talk with Pam about PTSD seminars. They could all probably use the help. And more counselling, if they could present it in ways that wouldn’t stir resentment.

“For how long, J’onn? Amnesty prevents you from holding her forever without charges, and no court will convict her of genocide and war crimes on the word of one man.”

“She didn’t register for amnesty.” J’onn stepped back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for more tests. This is my facility, Major.”

“And ultimately, I am in charge of the DEO!”

“Are you pulling rank?”

She could pull rank, but it would undermine his authority. She’d have to find another way. Marsdin, or Alex, or Kara… someone would have to reach him and get him to change his mind. The DEO was going more public, M’gann was a business owner, and holding her without bond, charges, or trial was a rights violation.

Lucy sighed. “J’onn, you’re hurting. This… this isn’t you.”

“No,” he agreed. “It isn’t. And we have a White Martian to thank for that.”

Lucy’s shoulders sagged as she watched J’onn walk away.

Pam would be her first stop. Clearly HR had some retraining to schedule, as some agents Lucy wouldn’t name were becoming rusty on the policies of their organization and its increasing shades of grey.

 

 

“You guys survived CADMUS, the least we could do is get you pizza and potstickers,” said James.

Alex removed the lid of the first container and shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry they’re cold.”

Kara made grabby hands and hit it with her heat vision as soon as it was in her grasp. “That’s okay… Not anymore.”

“Oh yeah! She got her powers back!” Winn cheered.

Lucy snorted. “I hope you got more than one.”

“One of your disgusting pineapple pizzas isn’t a good enough compromise?” Alex teased.

Lucy bumped her shoulder. “Hawaiian?”

“None pizza with left pineapple.”

Lucy groaned. “No. Just, no. Kara! Stop sending your sister memes!”

Alex laughed.

 _Guardian has been cleared of all charges and hailed as a hero for assisting in the arrest of serial killer Phillip Karowsky_.

“Alright. I admit it,” Kara said, staring at the news on the television. “I was wrong about Guardian. I’m really glad he was there to help you, Alex.”

Alex licked her lips and forced a smile.

Lucy had no such compunction. She narrowed her eyes and attempted to burn a hole in the side of James’ head.

“Well, I hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but…”

“That’s a goddamn lie,” Lucy muttered.

“You love to say ‘I told you so.’” Kara laughed.

“Hmm, I do,” James agreed. His smile faded when he glanced at Lucy.

Alex’s hand stopped Lucy from reaching for the gun tucked into the back of Alex’s pants. Lucy felt put out at that. She wasn’t planning on killing him in front of this many witnesses. She just wanted to maim him a little.

He didn’t need both balls.

“I still wanna know who’s under that mask though,” said Kara.

“Ohhhh…” Alex put her hands on her hips and smirked at Winn and James. “I’m sure he’ll reveal himself soon enough.”

Alex spun to check on the oven where the pizza was warming.

Lucy shook her head at the sisters goofing around with a towel.

“Is Kara mated to someone?”

She could have broken her neck with how fast she whipped her head back at the manchild on the couch. “Say what now?”

“On Daxam, we had arranged marriages, chosen for you at birth. You reach a certain age, boom. You’re latched to that person. Is that how it works here on Earth?”

“Outdated patriarchal bullshit,” Lucy muttered.

Winn nudged her. “Uh, well… here on Earth we call it getting hitched, not latched. And nowadays, you pretty much choose your own mate.”

“Has Kara chosen?”

Lucy’s eyes widened. She was beginning to think Kara was a magnet for selfish assholes.

“Uh… No.” James admitted. “No she has not.”

“Why are you asking, Space Cadet?” Lucy asked.

“Just… studying Earthly customs.

All men were lying assholes, as far as Lucy was concerned. Mon-El’s eyes never left Kara. One day, Lucy was going to invite all three to a poker game. She would clean them out, kick their asses, and then set in motion the rest of her plans to teach them a lesson or eight.

It was possible that Lucy was still holding onto her resentment and anger. Maybe projecting it a little.

A knock on the door distracted her from the trainwreck in front of her.

Lucy frowned and counted their friends. Vasquez was on duty, so was J’onn. There wasn’t anyone left _to_ knock.

Alex went to answer it. Lucy watched as she stiffened, and then stepped into the hall. Lucy looked over to Kara in confusion.

Kara tilted her head. She looked up and mouthed “Maggie.”’

Lucy nodded and walked over to kitchen to join Kara. “You guys have any plans Friday?”

“Save the cheerleader, save the world. The usual.”

“You have two jobs, how are you a meme?”

“Supergirl is a meme, I have to keep up.”

“Supergirl is a queer icon,” Lucy muttered.

“Huh?”

Alex slipped back inside, saving Lucy from one of the second most awkward explanations of her life. She looked tense and uncertain.

“Danvers?”

“Spy much?”

Kara laughed. “How was that?”

“Uh. Maggie came to apologize. We’re going to be friends. Who play pool. Tomorrow.”

Lucy and Kara shared a look.

“Are you ready for that?” Lucy asked.

Alex shrugged.

“Ooh. Speaking of getting ready. Danvers, clear your calendar Friday. Vasquez and I are taking you out.”

“What?”

Lucy smiled. “Dress up.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy managed to keep her tongue in her mouth. Barely. Alex was waiting by the car in a gorgeous red dress, knee length, with a slit up each side. The halter top showed off her shoulders and left a keyhole over her chest.

Vasquez, looking dapper in their button down, vest, and tie, nudged Lucy. “You’re drooling.”

Lucy went all out, of course. Tight black dress, mile-high shoes, smokey eyes. She loved every second that Alex took to appraise her.

“Looking good, Danvers.”

“Not so bad yourself, Lane.” Alex smiled. “You’re looking handsome, Vas.”

“Ladies love a tie,” Vas grinned. “You look gorgeous, Alex.”

Alex blushed down to the keyhole.

Lucy jerked her eyes up. “Get in, losers. Tonight, we celebrate being single, surrounded by beautiful women!”

Lucy paid their cover, completely ignoring her friends. The inside of the club was pulsing and alive, the dance floor crowded at the late hour. She nodded at the dance floor. “Vas, take Danvers out and show her how it’s done. First round’s on me.”

Vas dragged Alex onto the floor, paying no mind to the startled squawk Alex let out.

It took Lucy nearly ten minutes to reach the bar. It took her ten seconds to situate her boobs just right to be noticed. She leaned over the bar, trying to look for one of the bartenders. Instead, she caught the attention of the woman next to her.

Well, her boobs caught most of the attention.

The pretty brunette dragged her eyes up to Lucy’s face. “Holy shit, Lane.”

Lucy blinked. Because of course who else would she run into but Detective Sawyer in the best gay club in National City. “Sawyer. Your eye is healing nicely.”

“I’m surprised you let Alex come out the other night.”

“I don’t let Alex do anything,” Lucy laughed. “One day you might figure that one out. Alex does what and _who_ she wants, as she damn well pleases.”

Lucy placed her order and turned back to Sawyer. “You’re an idiot for letting her go.”

“She deserves better.”

“We all deserve better than what we’re willing to accept, Detective. Some of us are brave enough to push past our thoughts and reach for what we _want_.”

“Is that what you’re doing?”

Lucy tilted her head and smirked. She grabbed the drinks and pushed away from the bar. “Might be what I try tonight.”

Alex was a lot more relaxed after her second drink, sliding into the party girl persona that Lucy had heard so much about. She looked gorgeous, relaxed and free, flowing with the music.

Vas found themself a pretty girl, but paused long enough to whisper “Goner” into Lucy’s ear.

Their second round of drinks saw Lucy and Alex dancing with other people near each other. Lucy drew her fair share of attention, but Alex, blushing and stuttering, had a whole crowd to herself. Lucy lost track of her a few times, but Alex made sure to make her way back to Lucy time and again.

An hour or so into it, Lucy swung back by the bar. Sawyer wasn’t there this time, but Alex was, draining a bottle of water. Lucy’s eyes may have traced a stray drop down Alex’s neck.

She wasn’t the only one.

A handsome butch pressed up behind Alex, hands wandering as she whispered into Alex’s ear. Alex turned tomato red and froze at the contact.

Lucy moved just enough to catch Alex’s attention. She raised an eyebrow in question.

Alex nodded slightly, ignoring the woman at her back.

Lucy slinked over, sliding her arms around Alex’s neck and tugging her away from the other woman. “Hey, Gorgeous, I was beginning to think you got lost.”

Alex tucked her head against Lucy’s neck and inhaled. She wrapped her arms around Lucy’s waist. She moved her lips to Lucy’s ear, “Just wanted some water.”

Lucy tried not to shiver. She grinned over Alex’s shoulder at the less-than-pleased woman. “Thanks for keeping my girl company!”

The woman stomped off, but Lucy let herself linger.

Alex didn’t seem like she was in a hurry to pull herself away. “You smell nice.”

“Better than Clark?” Lucy smirked.

Alex pulled away and laughed. She caught Lucy’s arm and dragged her over to a seat. Lucy practically melted when Alex draped herself around her rather than taking the next seat. “You’re an ass, Lane.”

“A cute one,” Lucy agreed.

“Thank you, Luce. For… all of it.”

“Anything for you, Danvers. What do you say? One more drink and then we close this place down on the dance floor?”

Alex nodded, “Sounds fun.”

Grinding with Alex was going to be burned into Lucy’s brain for the rest of her life. The faint scent of perfume, the heat of her body wrapped around Lucy. A thigh slipped between her legs, and Lucy’s head spun.

This was the best and worst idea she’d ever had.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, I'm chilling on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com) if you want to drop by and say hello!


	8. Episode 8: Swallowing Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving, viruses, and a broken heart. 
> 
> AKA 
> 
> "It hurts my heart when Lucy hurts  
> But it's a good pain cos know you're gonna be a good little sadist and get them all together" - @salamaderous-rex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh. Grab tissues. And alcohol. Or ice cream. Both?
> 
> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

****

****

 

 

  **Swallowing Swords**

 

Lucy had to assume that Alex or Eliza had, at some point, studied the cancer risks of laser-visioned food and deemed them negligent.

That didn’t make it any less weird to watch a turkey cook because of light beams shot from her friend’s eyeballs.

“Kara, why hasn’t your oven been fixed?” asked Lucy.

Kara shrugged. “Maintenance hasn’t gotten around to it.”

Alex shrugged. “I put ticket requests in before I gave Kara the place. It’s always been a piece of crap.”

“Matters less when I can cook stuff without it,” Kara agreed.

It was still really weird.

“I will never get tired of watching you do that,” said Eliza. “It really takes the stress off of cooking for major events.”

Lucy snorted. She glanced over to Kara’s living area and frowned. “Why are the women in the kitchen?”

“Good point. Especially considering mom and Kara have this handled.”

Lucy let Alex drag her towards the boys. She shrugged back at Kara, who laughed. Alex let go of her at the step down, where she stole Winn’s beer and walked straight into their conversation.

“I should be the one to tell her,” said Winn.

“Tell who what?” Alex asked.

The boys shot a furtive glance at one another.

“Alex… um. We’ve been talking about Kara and that thing you said about not keeping secrets from her?” Winn started.

“Um, we wanted to tell Kara about the… project we’ve been working on,” added James.

Lucy smacked the back of James’ head. “Your stupid night job has not escaped me.”

“You told her?” Winn hissed at Alex.

Alex raised her eyebrows and took a sip of beer. “Contrary to popular belief, I do not have a death wish.”

Lucy sat on the arm of the couch. Alex held the beer out to her, much to Lucy’s surprise. She took a drink before handing it back.

James rubbed his head. “Um, yeah. So we talked about it, and um...I’m gonna be the one who tells her I’m the Guardian.”

Lucy snorted. She hated that name. She’d dated less pretentious names in law school.

“No, no, no, no. You’re not.”

“Yeah.”

“No,” Alex cut James off. “I have something to say, something very important. And I’m not going to have you two hijacking the night with your vigilante…”

Alex paused, searching for the word. “Hijinks!”

Lucy snorted and patted Alex on the shoulder. It was a nice effort. She pinned James with her stare. “You have had _weeks_ to tell Kara and me. Alex has something to say, and you’re not going to _say a damn word_ about _your little project_ , because Kara _will_ be pissed, and you will ruin the day for everyone.”

“I’m sorry, um, I couldn’t sleep a wink last night.”

“That’s your problem, Schott.” snarked Lucy.

“No, I can’t wait.” Winn argued.

“Can’t wait for what?” Kara asked.

Kara sat on the arm of James’ chair and rubbed his back.

Lucy and Alex shared a look. Alex took another swig of beer.

“For… uh… Eliza’s glazed carrots!”

Lucy added espionage training to the list of shit she was planning on putting them both through for their little stunt. If they wanted to play at superheroes, they would have to train like them.

“Yeah, I mean.... Winn was gushing about those ever since last Thanksgiving.”

A knock on the door.

“Oh! I’ll get it!”

Kara jumped up to go answer the door.

Lucy leaned around Alex. “Don’t you _fucking_ dare, James Olsen. You both better keep your mouths _shut_ about Guardian, _or I will shut you down for misappropriation of government funds_.”

“Lucy-”

“This is the Danvers’ family dinner, on a family holiday, and they were nice enough to invite us to share in it, Olsen. It’s not like any of us have anywhere else to _be_.” Lucy rubbed Alex’s shoulder. “Alex has something important she wants to tell everyone, and I need you not to be a total jackass about your feelings _just this once_.”

“I think Kara will understand.”

“I think Kara will do much worse than slit your tires.”

Alex downed the rest of the beer. “She can be pissed at you tomorrow, stop trying to use my mother as a buffer.”

Lucy nodded.

Winn looked cowed enough at her glare. But James still looked defiant.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “James Olsen, I swear to god, if you don’t take your shiny head out of your ass, I will have you thrown in prison for theft and misuse of government property so fast your head will spin. Don’t think I don’t know _exactly_ where Winn got those materials.”

Lucy glanced at the door. “Danvers, why is Superboy here with a pillow case?”

“Kara asked him to bring stuffing,” Alex frowned. “You don’t think-?”

“He brought flowers for your mom.”

“Ew, he better not hit on her.”

Lucy laughed and ruffled Alex’s hair. “I don’t think it’s your mother’s pants he wants in.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Lucy snickered as Alex raced over to her sister.

“What does Alex have to say that’s so important?” James asked.

“That’s for her to tell, and you to realize that this is the first time Alex has seen her mother in months. If she feels the need to tell her something important, _in person_ , then it is our jobs as _her friends_ to provide whatever buffer she thinks she needs.”

Winn nodded slowly. “Alex and her mom are kind of like lighting a match surrounded by an oil spill.”

“Exactly. Now be the good friends I know you can be, and _shut the fuck up_.”

Lucy looked up to see Kara steal Alex’s fresh beer and put it in the freezer. It was probably a better idea for Alex to do this sober, but Lucy wasn’t going to stop her from oiling the gears. It was just beer, Kara was overreacting a little. Even if Alex’s pout was adorable.

At least that’s what Lucy thought, until Alex pink panthered her way to the freezer to snag an entire bottle of whiskey and made her way back to the couch, hiding it behind her back so Kara wouldn’t see.

Lucy snagged it from Alex, pouring only a small amount into a nearby glass. She handed it to Alex. “That pout doesn’t work on me. You need to be able to speak to say things.”

“I have found it most impressive how some humans can still speak when barely able to stand.”

Alex sipped at her glass instead of downing it. “Gee, thanks, Mon-El.”

“Right, Mono, how is training going?”

“Oh, uh. It is good exercise, though I wish Kara would start it later in the day.”

“Dinner time!”

They gathered around the table. Lucy took the extra chair squeezed between Alex and James, willing to deal with the lack of space if it meant keeping him in line.

“Kara,” Eliza asked. “Will you do us the honors?”

“Oh, oh yes, okay! So, it is a Danvers family tradition that, before the meal, we go around and say what we’re thankful for, so… whoever wants to go first…”

Lucy palmed her fork.

Both Alex and James moved to stand.

James faltered as Lucy stabbed his thigh as vicious as discretion allowed. He inhaled sharply, falling back into his seat. Lucy stared at Winn, daring him to try.

He did not.

Lucy didn’t remove the fork either.

Alex swayed a little, suddenly aware of all the eyes on her. “Um. So, uh, I’d like to go first.”

“It’s… it’s been a crazy year, with new friends and saving the world…” Alex glanced down at Lucy. “And I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because some of you have made a huge difference in my life, you know? I, uh, well, first I want to thank you guys for that. Having some of you around has made me let down my guard, be more me.”

Lucy smiled encouragingly up at Alex, receiving a squeeze to her shoulder in return.

“So, you know, with that in mind? I, uh, I have something I need to get off my chest. It’s a… it’s a good thing, it’s definitely a good thing. It’s just that I’ve recently come to some realizations about myself, and… well… I honestly don’t think I’ve ever felt more like myself and.. I think… it’s important to, uhhh… share that with the people I care about.”

Alex took a deep breath. She glanced down at Lucy, and then to Kara. Both offered proud smiles. Alex’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Uh, well, the thing is, I’m-”

 _Something_ , some kind of blue and white light erupted from the air above the table. Everyone scrambled back from it, Lucy finally letting go of the fork. James didn’t seem to notice it was still kind of stuck there.

He might need stitches.

Lucy almost felt bad.

The light disappeared.

“What the hell was that?” she asked.

Alex shook her head. “I don’t know.”

 

* * *

 

“Alright, people, holiday is over, let’s get back to work!” J’onn barked. “Lane, what are you doing here?”

“Space and time ripped apart in Supergirl’s apartment last night, I feel like we should probably discuss that. Also, Alex has leftovers for you.” Lucy smirked. “I recommend the cranberry sauce.”

“Now, question of the day, what did CADMUS want with Supergirl?”

“Question of the day, wasn’t that the question of the day three days ago?”

J’onn glared at Lucy.

He elected to ignore her. “And why did Lillian Luthor take your blood?”

“Again, I feel like this should have been questioned last week.”

“Do I come to your base of operations and question how you run things?”

“Frequently, J’onn. You were there pestering Vasquez _yesterday_. They sent me so many complaints that I had to save some leftovers to deliver to them. Do you know how hard it is to keep the Kryptonian menace from eating everything?”

“Hey!”

“No offense, Supergirl.”

“I’m pretty sure I should be offended.”

Alex snickered. “ _Anyway_. Why didn’t Lillian just kill you?”

“I think she probably has something a little more nefarious planned.”

“Those Luthors do like to make a statement,” Lucy muttered.

“Oh, yeah,” Winn agreed. “Those Luthors do love an epic criminal scheme.”

“I just need to know what Lena knows.” said Supergirl.

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “ _Lena?_ ”

“Will do. I will tap every phone,” said Alex.

“I will hack every computer.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Alex and Winn turn to stare at Supergirl disbelievingly. Behind her, Lucy and J’onn shared a look.

“I mean, I know her. I bet you I could get her to say what she knows.”

“How?” asked Winn.

“Reporting skills.”

“Reporting skills… from a job you started like, a month ago?” Lucy asked.

“And… good old-fashioned sneakiness.”

Alex and Winn didn’t try to hide their disbelief. Lucy, on the other hand, merely added Kara’s name to the list of people in desperate need of training. Pam was either going to kill her or bake her a cake. Considering Pam didn’t have Kara’s excuse for a broken oven, it pretty much meant the same thing.

“Solid plan. No problem,” Alex said.

“Yeah, absolutely.”

Supergirl stomped her foot. “I can be sneaky when I want to be!”

“Definitely,” the two agreed. The nodded with wide eyes.

“Sounds like a plan,” said J’onn.

Supergirl followed J’onn out of command.

Alex crossed her arms. “Hack Lena anyway.”

“Duh.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. Clearly the rip in space and time wasn’t going to be discussed today, but she could still make her time in the city worthwhile. She and Pam could make a decision on which agents were free to deal with their little Guardian problem.

“You two,” Lucy said, “Stop teasing Supergirl about her crush.”

“Her- her _crush_?” Alex stuttered.

Lucy smirked and headed for HR, well aware of Alex chasing after her.

“Lucy-Luce, get back here!”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy volunteered to give Eliza a lift to the base. “Thank you for doing this, Dr. Danvers.”

“Lucy, I told you that if I can’t use your titles, you can’t use mine.”

“Sorry, Eliza.”

“And even if Kara and J’onn weren’t in danger, I would help. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Lucy smiled. “You and your daughters are very similar in that respect.”

“Mm-hmm. I suppose we are.” Eliza sighed. “One of the few things Alex and I share.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“Do you know what Alex wanted to announce at dinner, dear?”

“I do. And I think she’ll bring it up before this crisis is over.”

Eliza nodded and turned to look out the window. “Is she finally dating again? It’s been so long since she mentioned someone. All I ever hear about is you and this Maggie person.”

Lucy choked.

“Oh, not that I mind, Lucy! It’s nice to know she has such good… friends around her. I just…” Eliza sighed. “She’s always been so lonely. I suppose I didn’t help, emphasizing Kara’s safety over everything else after we lost Jeremiah.”

“Um. No. I don’t think she’s dating yet.”

“What about you, dear? Are you dealing alright with James and Kara?”

“Oh, oh yeah. Pft.” Lucy nodded. “Whatever they have- or don’t- that’s their thing. I’m over it. Giving up men entirely for now, I think. Didn’t get to explore much, when I was in the army, considering certain policies, so I’m keeping my options open.”

Eliza smiled. “That’s wonderful, dear. I’m sure you’ll make someone very happy.”

“One can hope,” Lucy agreed.

Lucy pulled into the underground deck and parked near the elevator. “C’mon, let’s get you through security.”

Lucy was pleased to see that security dug through Eliza’s bag, despite her having arrived with Lucy and being mother to Agent Danvers and Supergirl. Someone, at least, knew how to do their jobs properly. Once cleared and issued a badge, Lucy lead Eliza to the elevators and punched in the number for the labs.

“Alex said that they have tissue and blood samples from the deceased aliens. Still waiting on permission to do more than swab, though. Whatever it was, this weapon was aerosolized, and we need permission for an autopsy to get samples of lung tissue.”

“Of course. I heard there’s a survivor?”

“Yes. Mon-El was at the bar, but stepped out to chase the perpetrator before the gas was released. He received exposure after fleeing humans told him the offworlders inside were dead.”

“Are we sure he isn’t infected?”

Lucy frowned. “No. He’s in quarantine in the level below, just in case. For obvious reasons, we’d rather take tissue samples from the others, if possible.”

Eliza hummed. She followed Lucy off the elevator and down the hall of glass walls. “What about Kara and J’onn?”

“Grounded until further notice.” Lucy chuckled. “J’onn is, of course, taking it in stride. Kara is pouting and keeping Mon-El company through the other side of the glass.”

“I’ll go check on them both after I get settled in with Alex.”

Lucy nodded. She waved her badge at the door and motioned Eliza in. “Danvers, your mom’s here.”

“Thanks, Luce!”

Lucy waved and smiled at Eliza. “If you need me, just holler.”

“I will. Thanks again, Lucy.”

“Anything for a Danvers.”

 

* * *

 

 

“He’s stable, for now,” Eliza sighed.

“Thank Rao!”

“Did he pass it onto Kara?” Alex asked anxiously.

“The virus isn’t transmittable organism-to-organism.”

Lucy sighed with relief and shot a message to Pam. Quarantine of all agents involved in cleanup wouldn’t be necessary if they couldn’t be carriers.

“You have to come in contact with a weaponized aerosol in order to be infected,” Eliza continued.

“That’s some good news,” Alex said.

“There’s something else.” Eliza shook her head. “I isolated a strand of the virus from Mon-El’s blood. Based on the protein code, I’m fairly certain the virus is from Krypton.”

“A Kryptonian virus?” asked Alex. “How did CADMUS even get its hands on that?”

“Does the Fortress carry that kind of thing?” Lucy asked. “Could be what they needed your blood for, trick the system into thinking Henshaw was you or Supes.”

“They would have needed it to get in,” Supergirl murmured.

Supergirl was off and away without another word. The force of wind nearly knocked Lucy off her feet, and probably would have had J’onn not caught her.

“It seems we have a great many problems at hand.”

Lucy rocked onto the balls of her feet. “Now more than ever, that means you stay put, J’onn. We can’t afford to lose you.”

He nodded. “I’ll stay until I’m needed.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. She and Alex shared a look. “That wasn’t what I said, J’onn.”

J’onn blinked back at her. “Eliza, have you begun work on an anti-virus?”

“It’s in the beginning stages, but I can’t guarantee success.”

His hand flashed red. “Would you mind showing me what you have so far?”

“Of course!”

Lucy watched after him. “Is he doing any better?”

“No. It’s getting worse-- sometimes those red...glitches… lead to his whole hand going White Martian.” Alex made a face. “It’s creepy looking, but you know that. I don’t know how much time he has as J’onn.”

“The three of you are going to make me grey before my time, Danvers.”

Alex laughed. “And what time is that, Lane? How old are you again?”

“I’m going to strangle you.”

“Hardly. Can you even reach my throat?”

Lucy took a menacing step towards Alex. Alex, for her part, bolted back to the labs.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why does everyone think we’re dating?”

Lucy looked up from the piles of paperwork she’d spread out over the conference room. “Why are you always so offended by that?”

“Because we aren’t?”

Lucy shrugged. “Say the word, Danvers, and I’ll romance the pants off of you.”

Alex missed a step and tried to play it off by slipping into one of the other chairs. “I told mom.”

“That’s fantastic!” Lucy smiled. “I’d give you a hug, but I don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment.”

“Fuck off, Lane.”

“Romance and no pants, Danvers, any time, any place.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “For some reason, Mom thought we were ‘exploring our options.’ When I said we weren’t dating, she asked about Maggie. Apparently, I talk about my friends too much.”

“I’m gorgeous, funny, smart, and I get along with your family, of course your mother thinks I’m prime dating material.” Lucy smirked. “Not sure why she thinks that of Sawyer though.”

Alex threw a pen at Lucy’s head. “I hate you so much.”

“You love me, that’s why everyone thinks we’re banging.”

“Lucy!” Alex blushed.

“Hey, hey.” Lucy hushed. “I’ll tone it down, sorry. But I _am_ happy for you, Alex. It sounds like it went really well.”

“Yeah, she, uh… took it a lot better than me.”

“I knew she would,” Lucy laughed. “You’re always too hard on yourself. And maybe she used to be, but it looks like she’s trying not to.”

“Yeah,” Alex smiled. “We’re getting better.”

“And maybe if you talk more outside of holidays, I can, you know, not need to stab James with things, and he can piss off your sister in peace. We can have dinner and a show. That sounds like fun to me.”

Alex frowned. “Wait, stabbed James?”

“It was just a fork he’s fine.”

“Is that why he’s been limping around?”

Lucy sniggered. “He deserved it. I told him to behave.”

“Do I… need to talk with Pam about your anger management issues?”

Lucy waved Alex off and went back to signing the endless pile of documents. “That’s what my insurance pays my therapist for.”

“I-”

Winn skidded to a halt, “Alex, there you are. Kara’s on her way in with Maggie- Terminator Hank got her with a laser.”

Alex shot out of her seat and shoved past Winn.

Lucy frowned. “Sawyer okay, Schott?”

He shrugged. “She was wearing a vest. Kara said it was hard to tell if there was much damage past it, laser cauterized the wound.”

Lucy bit her lip. She glanced at the paperwork and sighed. “Keep me notified, Winn.”

“You got it, boss.”

“Stop calling me boss!”

“Sure,” he grinned. “Boss.”

 

* * *

 

_Tonight our nightmare ends. Every alien who has stepped foot on our planet will die. Because Earth is for the humans. The future is for the humans. We are CADMUS._

Lucy pursed her lips and stared at the now blank screens. “You know, they sound like the exact opposite of eco-terrorists. There are other things on the planet than humans and offworlders, you know.”

“We have to move, right now.”

“J’onn, sit your ass down.”

He shook his head. “Call Alex and get a strike team to meet me at the Port now.”

Lucy growled and Winn took a step back.

To make things worse, Supergirl followed after J’onn.

“There’s no time, Supergirl. It’s just you and me.”

Lucy cursed. She dug out her phone and dialed. “Danvers, out of the lab. CADMUS is on the move and J’onn and Supergirl just went after them. Grab your team and meet at the tac van.”

The ride is tense. It took significantly longer for the team to make it to National City Port than it did a Martian and a Kryptonian. Tac vans didn’t fly, and there was no straight path to the Port from the inner city, even with Winn clearing the lights for them.

All they could do is prep their gear and listen into the comms.

Lucy’s heart dropped when the missile was launched.

Alex fiddled with her gun, thankfully pointed away from everyone. She and Lucy were the last ones in so they could be first out. Lucy glanced around at her people, checking to make sure they were all outfitted properly. She growled when she got to Alex.

Lucy lunged across the van, shoving a helmet over Alex’s eyes. “Wear. Your. God. Damn. Helmet. Danvers. I swear to god!”

“You swear a lot,” Alex said. She pushed her helmet back so she could see and buckle it in place properly. “I’m surprised you’re such a fan. I didn’t take you for helmet hair.”

“I’ve seen what a bullet does to human skulls without them, Danvers.” Lucy muttered. “You’re too pretty for that.”

Alex flinched. “Shit. Yeah. Okay, sorry Luce. I’ll be better about it.”

Lucy nodded, nearly falling into Alex’s lap as the van swerved and screeched to a halt. Alex steadied her, and together they shoved open the back doors, weapons ready. They filed out into a nearly empty Port. J’onn had fully into a White Martian, he and RoboHenshaw were duking it out to the side, with the Luthors gathered by the rocket launcher.

Lucy motioned for Alex to take her team to help with Henshaw while she approached the Luthors.

Alex shook her head and hissed, “You’re not taking her on alone.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Alpha team, support the Director-- make sure you hit the right one.”

She and Alex took off after the running Luthors, dodging around shipping containers and other debris tossed aside by the fight between Henshaws. They slid to a stop as the missile exploded overhead, red particles drifting into the air.

Alex ground her teeth and motioned for Lucy to flank the Luthors from the other side.

After a few moments of nothing happening, Lillian spun around. J’onn was standing still in his Green Martian form, looking up at the sky in peace. Kara too, stared up at the falling virus.

“They should be dead. All aliens should be dead.”

Lena spotted Alex. She nodded at her, then moved to stand on Lillian’s far side. She didn’t seem to realize she was now directly in Lucy’s line of sight.

“You.” Lillian grimaced at her daughter. “You switched out the isotope. You made the virus inert.”

“I did,” Lena admitted.

She tilted her head to the side. Lucy could hear sirens approach. Neither she nor Alex had stopped to call for reinforcements. Not even Sawyer.

Lena smirked, looking every bit the smug Luthor. “And I called the police.”

Lucy snickered to herself. Lena would be a fun edition to Second-Best-Sisters Club.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was very much relieved to see J’onn hale and hearty. She was in no way shape or form prepared to handle the Danvers sisters entirely on her own. “You look good, J’onn.”

“Thank you, Lucy.”

“We’re going to talk about you not listening to me.” Lucy grumbled. “You’re giving Alex ideas that it’s okay.”

“We both know Agent Danvers will break ranks as she pleases if someone she cares about is in danger.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “She’s a horrible agent.”

“It is her best and worst quality,” he agreed. “I do not mean to undermine you, Major. But we did not have a cure. I wanted to die as myself, if I was going to turn into a White Martian.”

“Would it have been so bad?” Lucy asked. “If M’gann can repent, perhaps you too could have found a more… humanized, for lack of a better word… White Martian identity.”

He sighed. “There was… so much rage. Perhaps it might be possible. But I didn’t want to risk it.”

“And what is the risk if you let M’gann go?”

He tensed and turned his frown on her. “She is a war criminal.”

“Who has been punishing herself for her part in it for decades. You told me yourself she tried to save as many as she could.”

J’onn shook his head. “You could never understand.”

“There have been plenty of genocides, on this planet, J’onn. Perhaps not to the same scale as yours, but so, so many people have been killed on the orders of madmen in the name of purity. You're not alone here, but the difference is that the people who turned their backs to help those in need received lesser punishments.”

“She’s alive. That is a lesser punishment.”

“Even Nazis received trials, J’onn.”

He shook his head stubbornly.

Lucy sighed. “It _is_ good to see you healthy, J’onn, even if you’re being a stubborn jackass about it.”

“You like stubborn jackasses,” he said. He looked meaningfully towards where the Danvers’ circled Mon-El.

Lucy blushed. “Shut your mouth, old man.”

“You should tell her, Lane. Before you miss out on something great.”

“I’m not the one she noticed. As long as Alex is happy, I’m happy.”

 

* * *

 

A weird text from Alex in the morning had a less than coherent Lucy opening the door before anything close to a decent hour. Alex was practically bouncing as she shoved a cup from Noonan’s into Lucy’s hands.

“How much coffee have you _had_?” Lucy asked, her voice gravelly.

“Just the one from Noonan’s.”

Lucy squinted at her cup. “They lace it with speed or something?”

Alex laughed. Giddy and free, it was the happiest Lucy had ever seen her. “No. That’s not it.”

“Then aside from illicit drug use, what brings you here before dawn?”

“Well, um. I was going to go to Kara’s but she’s not answering the phone.”

“Second choice, at 5:30 in the morning? Don’t I feel special.”

“No, no you totally are! Special, I mean.” Alex grinned. “I figured you’d want to sleep in that’s why I called Kara first. But I just… I woke up early and I needed to talk to _someone_. If it’s not Kara, it’s you, you know that.”

Lucy blinked. The rush of words was too much for so early. She held up a hand, taking slow and measured sips of the liquid gold until she felt slightly more human. Of course, the cup was empty and she needed a refill from the pot she started earlier before that happened.

“Okay, Danvers. Spill. What’s got you acting like Kara at an all-you-can-eat donut shop?”

“Maggie came over last night.”

Lucy froze mid sip. She cleared her throat and set the cup down on the counter. “Oh? You guys hang out all the time. What… what’s so different this time?”

“Well… uh… She came over to talk about some stuff she’d been thinking about. Since Henshaw. How short life is, you know?”

Lucy’s stomach curdled. “Hmm?”

“And, uh, she wanted to talk about how we should, um, kiss the girls that, uh, we want to kiss.” Alex blushed. “And that, um, that she meant me. That she wanted to kiss me.”

Lucy tightened her grip on the cup and forced a smile to her face. “That- that’s fantastic, Alex. You two, you’re going to make a go of it?”

“Yeah. Yep. Um, slow, we’re going to take it slow, since it’s my first, uh, thing, with a woman.”

Lucy cleared her throat. “Did you make date plans?”

“Uh, mostly we kissed.” Alex hugged herself. Her smile was blinding. “But yeah, we’re going to go to dinner tomorrow. I mean, I suggested pool, but Maggie, she wants to do something different for our first date.”

“That’s really cool, Alex. I’m happy for you. Do you, uh, need help picking an outfit again?”

“Nope!” Alex grinned. “I have just the thing in mind!”

Lucy nearly sighed in relief. She wasn’t sure she could handle helping Alex dress for a real date with another woman. She swallowed and forced herself to take another drink. “Good. You deserve to be happy, Alex.”

“I am. I am so, so happy. Lucy, just… you’re amazing, you know that? You’ve been just what I needed this whole time. I hope you find your happiness too, you know?”

Lucy grimaced behind her mug. “Mm-hmm. Yep. Someday, maybe. Until then, I’ll just have to live vicariously through you.”

“I am lucky, aren’t I?” Alex grinned.

Lucy nodded. She closed her eyes, inhaling the coffee slowly while Alex talked her ear off about how beautiful and amazing Detective Sawyer was. Every word made Lucy’s heart shatter just a little bit more.

Two hours. Alex spent two hours discussing her night, her plans, and her date. Lucy smiled and nodded along, encouraging Alex like she knew Alex needed. When Alex decided it was time to check on Kara, Lucy walked her to the door.

She clung to the edge of it, watching as Alex practically skipped away.

“I’ll call you and let you know how it goes?”

“I’d love to hear all about it, Danvers,” Lucy lied.

She shut the door. She latched every lock and dropped her head against the door, thumping quietly as she did it again and again.

She glanced at the clock. Barely eight o’clock in the morning.

Lucy walked to the kitchen. She opened the cabinet under the sink and grabbed the nearest bottle.

She poured three fingers into her coffee.

When she refilled her coffee, she refilled the booze.

Then she sent a text to Vasquez, bailing on their sparring session. Lucy found herself no longer in the mood to leave the apartment.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's gonna get worse before it gets better folks, but I promise I'm only dragging it out for a few more episodes. 
> 
> You're just going to have to wait a week before we move past the midseason finale, because I'm a jerk like that ;)
> 
> Feel free to yell in the comments, or find me over on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com).


	9. Episode 9: Fire Eater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy rips Alex a new one and is (slightly) nicer to Maggie. But Lucy's not the only one calling people out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaack. (because I was gone so long right?)
> 
> So, any and all complaints about angst from this chapter on can be directed @letswreakhavoc- Riley didn't write it, but he helped me outline the major events and certain emotional moments. AKA the only kind of outlining (vague and nearly in code) that I am capable of. So. Blame him. 
> 
> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

 

**Fire Eater**

It stung, watching Alex be giddy and excited about Sawyer. Lucy was thrilled for her, really, to be one of the few women who got the exact person they wanted. Alex couldn’t stop smiling, she was _giggling_ , arms wrapped around herself as if the sheer joy was too much to keep in.

Lucy made sure she stayed out of Alex’s line of sight on her way into command.

She was happy for Alex.

That didn’t mean she wanted it rubbed in her face.

“Supergirl?”

Supergirl grinned. “Lucy! What are you doing here?”

“Downside to liaising with the police… we need to throw them a bone now and again. I need to go over the jewel heist.”

“Guardian.”

“Mm-hmm. You got a minute?”

“For you? Always.”

Lucy smiled. “C’mon then. To the conference room.”

Supergirl bounced behind her. “We should have a game night soon.”

“I’d like that.”

“Invite Vas to round it out it out with Maggie.”

Lucy forced a smile. “That sounds great, Supergirl.”

Supergirl took a seat at the table. She frowned and eyed Lucy suspiciously. “We’ll get something that only uses chopsticks.”

“You think I can’t injure someone with chopsticks?” Lucy laughed. She took her own seat. “I promise to behave so long as they don’t try to overshadow your sister, yeah?”

“Yeah, that was weird. What was he trying to say that was so important, anyway?”

“Who knows. He’s been-”

“You can say he’s been a dick.”

Lucy shrugged.

“I know… I know I’m not, you know, the person you probably want to talk to about this, but-”

“Uh, no, not really.”

Supergirl winced. “I really am sorry, Luce. About… about all of it.”

“Yeah, well, I tried to send Alex to CADMUS, we’ll call it even.”

“You also committed felonies helping her escape.”

“ _We’re even_ ,” Lucy insisted. “And I appreciate it, really, but I talk to Alex enough, when she has time.”

“Yeah. She’s been busy, huh? We’ve postponed Sister Night a couple of times.”

“Mm. Movie night, too,” Lucy shrugged. “It’s a new relationship, one she’s actually invested in. The shiny will wear off soon enough.”

“It’s still weird, sharing her.”

“You’ll always be her number one priority, Kara. You need her, she’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

Supergirl nodded. “Yeah, I know that. You, uh, wanted to talk about Guardian?”

“Yeah. Any idea where the rocket launcher came from?”

“Nope. They brought it with them though. How do common criminals get their hands on heat seeking surface-to-air _missiles_?” Supergirl asked.

“Yeah, we don’t know yet. Those guys aren’t talking,” Lucy sighed.

“Guardian wouldn’t have anything to do if I hadn’t been distracted by the _missile._ ”

Supergirl pouting looked a lot like Kara after someone (Alex) stole the last potsticker. Petulant, sad, and she could out-cute a kindergartener _playing Supergirl dress up_. The voice raised away from the deeper tone she used to convey power, dropped the postures and power poses that mimicked her big sister, dropped every act and just became Baby Danvers in fishnets and knee-high boots. The Danvers Sisters were something else.

“We’ll figure out something with the guy,” Lucy said. “‘Til then, we hang back. NCPD isn’t viewing him as a threat, so he’s not a priority. Rising crime, on the other hand, is.”

“Yeah what’s with that? Fewer aliens, more petty crime.” Supergirl paused. She reached for a pen and used it to tap on the table. “Well- _armed_ petty crime.”

Lucy frowned. “From what Vas and Winn have put together, it’s likely due to CADMUS making their presence known. Encouraging hate crimes against offworlders, rising reports of harassment. I don’t have proof, but I have a hunch that once we get these guys to talk, we’ll start tracing some of this military-grade hardware back to CADMUS itself.”

“It _did_ used to be a blacksite like the DEO, right?”

“Mm-hmm. My father was more informed than me. I… knew it existed. After the disaster of Myriad, Marsdin dug around and cut the funding and government support. Essentially shut it down.” Lucy made a face. “My guess? They found private investors.”

“Like Lord?”

“No idea. Certainly a possibility. He’s gone dark.”

“That’s not good,” Supergirl frowned.

Lucy shook her head. Maxwell Lord did his best work in the shadows. He was either up to something, or someone took him out. Lucy wasn’t sure what worried her more.

 

* * *

 

 

Sawyer called in sick that morning, delaying Lucy’s briefing. Lucy swung by the DEO with donuts that she wound up sharing with Winn and J’onn when Danvers called in too. Not for the whole day, no, just the morning.

The single donut in her stomach felt like a rock.

She and J’onn discussed the latest incident reports and the cleanup budgets for a few hours while she waited for either Sawyer to return her call or Alex to show up.

As she entered command again, Lucy wished she hadn’t waited.

Yesterday had been bad enough. Alex had been _so_ giddy. Today, she was worse. Lucy’s jaw clenched as Alex waved her over.

Alex bit her lip, leaning in towards Kara and Lucy. “Maggie slept over last night!”

Alex leaned into her fist, biting at her knuckle in an attempt to keep in the squeaks that Kara didn’t bother to contain. Lucy’s lips stretched into a smile she certainly didn’t feel.

“Oh, my God!”

Alex and Kara leaned back and tried to school their faces. While they certainly looked like sisters, casual wasn’t exactly the way Lucy would describe their look.

Gay, maybe.

Lucy glanced over Kara’s outfit.

Supergay, even.

“Do you think everybody can tell?”

“That you got laid, Danvers?” Lucy snorted. “That can be seen from _space_.”

“ _Lucy!”_ Kara hissed.

Alex flushed. “What are you talking about?”

“Look around, Danvers.” Lucy grinned. “There’s at least three greenies here, and they’re looking at you in terror. The usually look _away_ in fear, not directly at you. You’re scaring the shit out of them for entirely different reasons.”

Alex shoved Lucy nearly hard enough to knock her off her boots. “I hate you.”

“Obviously. You _have_ blown off the last three movie nights for an entirely different kind of _education_.”

“Okay, _ew_ , that’s _way_ more than I want to focus on,” said Kara.

“Shut up, Kara, it was pretty innocent up until-”

“Nope. Nuh-uh. I love you, I’m glad you’re happy, I _do not want to know_.”

“You’re a big girl, Baby Danvers, suck it up.”

“Lucy you clearly have no idea the kind of things I hear on a regular basis, I _do not_ need to hear about my sister’s version, okay?”

Lucy shared a glance with a horrified Alex. Lucy’s grin became more genuine, and much more wicked. “Oh? Do tell.”

“Please don’t,” Winn said, spinning around.

Lucy frowned. “What the fuck happened to you?”

Alex stepped forward and tilted Winn’s chin up for a better look. She poked and prodded until Winn pulled away. “I hope you got that looked at. What happened?”

“I was, uh, mugged,” he said. His eyes darted away from Kara. “I’m fine, and it hurts to smile. Yes, I got it checked out and nothing’s broken, _mom_.”

“Pft,” Alex scoffed.

Lucy managed to contain her snickers. Mostly.

“Oh hey, Kara, so there is a connection between those people on your list.”

“What list?” Lucy and Alex echo.

“They all had blood work done a few days before they disappeared.”

“Blood work? That’s weird.”

“Kara?” Alex interrupted. “What list?”

“Oh! Um, a woman came into CATCO today begging Snapper to run a story on her daughter. He thinks it’s just another runaway, but I told her I’d look into it. I checked with Maggie, and there’s a bunch of other people missing.”

“Wow, that sounds like a wonderful way to blow your cover with the last three people in the city who don’t know your identity,” Lucy muttered.

“Hey! More than three people don’t know my identity!”

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Kara turned to her sister and Winn. “Hey, tell her. There’s like, no one who knows.”

Alex set her hands on Winn’s shoulders. “Right, because we don’t have a recruit right here who knew _before_ the DEO did. And you definitely aren’t here as Kara Danvers, because a top secret agency would never let a _reporter_ into its city headquarters full of people who regularly run into Supergirl, who definitely doesn’t have the same face at all.”

Kara stuck her tongue out. “You both suck and I’m great at secrets.”

Winn cleared his throat. “So, um back to the list. The blood work was all run through the same lab, it’s here in the city.”

“It’s missing persons. Do you want me to come with you?” Alex asked Kara.

“Will you hold your FBI badge rightside up this time, Danvers?”

Kara smacked Lucy lightly. “No, no. You just keep on glowing Alex, I got this.”

“Okay,” Alex grinned.

Everytime she bounced on her feet, Lucy felt a little bit guiltier. No less envious, but a little more guilty. Lucy should be happy for Alex finding happiness, for finding herself. Not wishing she’d had the courage to do what Sawyer had, to call Alex out and make her face it. It was a dick move, but one that had clearly worked in Sawyer’s favor.

“Okay,” Alex hummed. She beamed at Lucy. “Hey, um, you called this morning?”

“Yeah, I was trying to track down Sawyer to discuss the influx of high-powered weapons,” Lucy said. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll catch her later.”

“She should be at the station now?” Alex offered. “She’s on til eight or so, covering a shift for one of the guys.”

No doubt in return for coming in late.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lucy lied. “I have to get back to the desert anyway, we’re running drills with some new greenies.”

Also the last thing she wanted to do was catch up with Sawyer and see her echoing the same stupid grin Alex was wearing. As her best friend, Lucy had to be happy for Alex. That didn’t mean she had to be happy for Sawyer, and seeing her would be a one-two to the gut that Lucy didn’t need.

“Give them hell, Major.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Lane, we need you back in the city.”

“J’onn?”

“Supergirl’s missing. Danvers went to her last known location and found a transmatter portal.”

“Oh, I don’t like the sound of that,” Lucy said. “Has Danvers gone through it with no way back?”

“Not yet.” Lucy could hear the smile in his voice. “But as soon as we can get it working, she will.”

“Hold on.” Lucy pulled the phone from her ear and hurried over to Vasquez’s station. “Vas, get Alpha team together. Have them meet me at the location I text you, Supergirl’s gone interstellar and I want a team on hand when Danvers pulls something stupid.”

“Won’t J’onn have one ready?”

“Sure. But they won’t be containment guys.”

Vas snorted. “Wouldn’t be Danvers if she didn’t bring back some souvenirs.”

“Exactly.”

“Got it, boss. I’ll get them geared up to meet you. You heading in now?”

“They haven’t left yet.”

“You’re not going to stop her.”

Lucy patted Vasquez’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know. But I might be able to stop her from going alone like a dumbass.”

“Stop her from going alone, maybe. Stop her from being a dumbass?” Vas shrugged. “I’m pretty sure she’s past that point, since I’m out of the pool _again_.”

Lucy winced. “Yeah, well, don’t remind me.”

“Sorry, boss.”

Lucy shook her head and put the phone to her ear again. “J’onn? I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Lucy hung up and sighed. “God, why do I feel like she’s going to do something stupid?”

Vasquez said nothing and pointedly avoided looking at Lucy. Their lips twitched with amusement, shoulders shaking slightly.

“Say it, Vasquez.”

“I have nothing to say, ma’am.” Vasquez paused. “Except that it’s a Danvers you’re talking about, and even though one of them is adopted, stupid shit is what they do.”

“You know anyone single, Vas? Because I clearly have shit taste.”

“You have excellent taste, ma’am.” Vas snickered. “You just need to major up and do something about it _sooner_ next time.”

“Fuck you, Vas.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, I will pass.”

Lucy really needed more friends.

 

* * *

 

 

“Have you found the Transmat’s terminus?”

“Yeah, ionization trail leads to the arcturus system, planet 51, arc B, according to the Fort Rozz star maps,” Winn said.

“That’s Maaldoria,” said J’onn. “The heart of the intergalactic slave trade.”

“That’s bad. That’s bad, right?”

“That’s bad,” Lucy said, patting Winn on the shoulder.

“I’m afraid it gets worse.”

Alex put her hands on her hips. “Define worse.”

Lucy glanced between Alex and J’onn. She couldn’t be the only one who heard the phone in Alex’s pocket buzzing again.

J’onn turned away from the map to look Alex in the eye. “Arcturus is a red sun.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Lucy hissed. “Goddamn Danvers.”

The worry on Alex’s face turned to panic. Panic made Alex angry and irrational, especially in regards to Supergirl.

“So she won’t have any of her powers?”

J’onn looked away.

“I should have gone with her. Why didn’t I go with her?”

“What, so you could _both_ be stranded on an alien planet?” Lucy snorted. “Uh, no, Danvers. One of you makes bad decisions, _two of you_ make bad decisions and then don’t have any _backup_.”

Alex’s phone buzzed again.

“You didn’t know this was going to happen, Alex,” said J’onn.

Winn stood and clapped a hand on J’onn’s shoulder. Brave, as J’onn looked about ready to remove it, not just from his shoulder, but Winn’s as well.

“Heeeey, we have the Martian Manhunter right? He doesn’t need a yellow sun. He’ll go in there, and he’ll get her, and everything be okay.”

Winn shook J’onn in his enthusiasm. He clapped J’onn’s shoulder confidently. J’onn didn’t share that look, and Lucy’s stomach dropped.

“I can’t join this rescue mission.”

“Exactly,” Winn paused. “Wait, what?”

“The air on Maaldoria is toxic to Martians.”

Because of course it was. Lucy inhaled sharply and lifted her eyes to the ceiling. She counted backwards from ten slowly as she exhaled. Her blood pressure was rising, and the last thing she needed right now was an aneurysm.

“Some kind of silicate in the atmosphere,” J’onn explained. “I can’t help Kara. I’m sorry, Alex.”

Alex nodded, holding back tears. If this wasn’t the DEO, Lucy would already be at her side and offering support. But it was, and she could only do so much.

Alex turned her head and froze. Lucy followed her gaze. Sawyer. Probably the reason Alex’s phone had been buzzing. She looked worried, and Lucy was willing to bet Danvers hadn’t said a damn thing to her since she realized Kara was missing, not after Alex hadn’t realized Kara had been taken by CADMUS.

An emotional Danvers was a stupid Danvers.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

Alex stepped away to lead Sawyer out of earshot. Lucy followed because she knew Alex. She’d need specifics to get through that rock hard skull, privacy be damned.

“You weren’t returning my texts or calls,” Sawyer said. “I was worried.”

“I’ve been busy, I’m sorry,” said Alex. She struck her power pose.

Lucy closed her eyes against the trainwreck she knew was coming.

“Is this a bad time?”

She opened them again, almost feeling sorry for Sawyer.

“Yeah, it is, kind of.” Alex crossed her arms defensively. “Supergirl’s missing.”

“Hey,” Sawyer smiled, “If anyone can find her, it’s you.”

“I knew this was gonna happen. I knew it!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I was happy for, like, _five minutes_.”

Lucy flinched.

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, I- you have to go. I’m sorry, I can’t-”

And there it was.

Sawyer’s face dropped. She nodded, stiffening her spine. “Okay.”

Sawyer’s head dipped down for a moment and she cleared her throat. “Got it. See you, Danvers.”

Alex’s breath hitched as Sawyer walked away and didn’t look back.

DEO or not, Lucy smacked Alex’s head. “What. The _fuck_. Was. That?”

“I got distracted, and Supergirl’s missing. I can’t be distracted like that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let a new relationship affect my job.”

“Your job is to _support_ Supergirl, not keep her on a leash, you absolute dumbass.”

Alex’s arms tightened around herself. “I did what I had to do.”

“What, push away the one person in the world who makes you happy _for yourself_?” Lucy hissed. She threw her hands in the air. “Jesus _Christ_ , Danvers, you don’t see it at all, do you? I- so many people would _kill_ to get past those walls of yours. To see the real you. To help _you_ see the real you. And now, now you _finally_ let someone in. You let _Sawyer_ , of all people in, and Kara does something so incredibly stupid, and you’re gonna just what? Follow in her footsteps? Go off alone into the universe?”

Lucy poked Alex in the chest hard enough to make her flinch. “You’re a goddamn idiot, Danvers. That woman _adores_ you. She’d do anything you asked, including, apparently, walking away. What you- what you two have together deserves to be fought for. Circumstantial evidence be damned, that woman is _not_ why Supergirl is missing. Correlation isn’t causation, _remember?_ ”

“Lucy-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Danvers.” Lucy shook her head. “I have _never_ seen you as happy as you were this morning, and god knows I’ve _tried_. You can’t just throw that away.”

Alex looked down and clenched her jaw.

Lucy stepped into Alex’s space. “I know that your first instinct is to run, Danvers. You’re such a goddamn perfectionist that you can’t handle when something goes wrong. But you need to fight for your relationship. You need to fight for Sawyer the same damn way you fight for Kara, because they both mean the world to you.”

“I need to find Kara.”

“I know. And I’m going to help you do that, we all are.” Lucy nodded. “I have a containment team waiting to handle whatever comes chasing you- because I know you two, and you’re both so much goddamn trouble- but you will get your sister back. Before you go after her though, you’re going to call Sawyer and apologize.”

“She’s not going to want to hear it.”

“Fuck, I wouldn’t either, asshole.” Lucy forced a smile. “She’ll need to cool down, but when she does, she’ll need to know you’re sorry. That you didn’t mean it. And it needs to be now, not tonight, not tomorrow. She deserves to be more than an afterthought.”

Alex swallowed and looked away. “Um, yeah. Yeah, okay. What if she won’t talk to me after?”

“Hey, I’m gonna help you get your sister, and then I’m gonna help you get your girl back, okay? Even if it kills me.”

Alex cracked a smile. “You’re the best, Luce.”

“I really am.” Lucy agreed. “And if you pull this shit again, I will kick your ass in front of God and country.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy watched as Alex dragged her team- and Winn- through the portal. Her own team stood in position, ready to wait as long as it took. It was fun, watching Danvers slip from Badass to Big Sister on Winn, but Lucy wasn’t convinced he was ready for the field. He hadn’t even begun the training outlined, but they didn’t have time to scramble a third team for nerd detail, and he was the only one who stood a chance at working the machine.

She didn’t have to like it.

“They’ll be fine, Major. You know the Danvers’ will go to hell and back for each other.”

“And Winn.”

“He _is_ an honorary Danvers,” J’onn agreed. “We all are.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I can handle this if you have other places to be.”

Lucy turned to look at J’onn. His eyes were kind, his face blank. She knew what he meant though. “You’ll call me, the moment that thing starts up again?”

“The moment.”

Lucy nodded. Off to the precinct then.

She took her time, stopping for two coffees and a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans. That was after she swung by J’onn’s office to print out a large stack of papers.

She walked straight into the precinct, security familiar with her now. Up to the second floor, where Sawyer sat sullen and working on paperwork. Lucy set one coffee down in the middle of the paperwork. “One black coffee. Get up, we need to talk.”

“Are you here to give me the shovel talk, Major?”

“Depends on how the rest of our talk goes, Detective. You got an open interrogation room? Without double sided glass?”

Sawyer snorted. “Yeah, no. We have a lineup room. That’s the only double sided glass we’ve got.”

“I knew tv was lying to me.”

Sawyer led her to a room and shut the door behind her. She didn’t take a seat.

Lucy offered her the bag of espresso beans.

“Gross, Lane, what the hell?”

“You are what you eat,” she shrugged.

“Is that why I’m a lesbian?” Sawyer said.

Lucy flinched. “About that.”

Sawyer leaned against the door and sipped at her coffee. “Lane, we-”

“We _do_ need to talk about this, Sawyer. Because I care about Alex, and she cares about you.”

“Funny way of showing it.”

“Oh, I never said she wasn’t a dumbass,” Lucy agreed. “I called her as much to her face when you left. But she’s not the only one running.”

“She made herself pretty clear.”

“She made it clear that she’s worried about Supergirl.”

“Yeah, her running buddy is in danger and I get dumped to the side.” Sawyer drained the cup. “Story of my life.”

“She called you right after.”

“I don’t want to hear her apology.”

“She means it,” said Lucy. “And you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Supergirl.”

“Please, Supergirl is a lesbian icon.”

“Supergirl stole my boyfriend,” Lucy said. She rolled her eyes. “While I’m not denying some sapphic tendencies, I can say for certain that Alex Danvers isn’t her type.”

“Wait, Supergirl stole your what now?”

“James Olsen. My ex. He has a thing for capes, apparently.”

“That… sucks.”

“Yeah, might have made me a little gunshy. That’s on me, though. What’s your excuse?”

“I don’t have to give you my life story, Lane.”

“No, of course not. But you already hurt Alex once. You get one, Sawyer. And she hurt you. And yeah, I can let you both run from this, _again_ , or I can tell you both to get your head out of your asses. You’re good together, and Alex needs that. Do you?”

Sawyer stared at the lid of her coffee cup.

Lucy sat heavily in one of the chairs, one hand tight to her cup, the other idling digging into her snack. “Look, Sawyer-”

“Maggie.”

“Huh?”

“You should call me Maggie. Outside of work things.”

Lucy slowly chewed a bean. “Okay. Then call me Lucy.”

“Lucy, look. I had my doubts when Alex came out-”

“I am aware, and I’ve forgiven you for that. It’s in your best interest to stop bringing it up.”

Sawyer-Maggie- smiled ruefully. “Right. Look, I… I really care about Alex. But I need to look after myself, I can’t force it with someone who isn’t willing to work for it.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been there, made that mistake, _and_ I have the t-shirt. But Alex is willing to work for it. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t have folded so easily when I yelled at her.”

“Folding to you means she’s willing to work for it?” Maggie asked doubtfully.

Lucy shrugged and ate another bean. “The Danvers girls are stubborn to a fault. Sometimes they just need a little push to see what’s right in front of them.”

Lucy watched Maggie consider her words. She ate three more beans, savoring the smoke and acid underneath the melting chocolate. The detective crossed her arms and sat in the other chair. Her brown eyes stared at Lucy. Lucy stared back, taking in the dark curls and the hint of frowning dimples. It wasn’t fair that her competition was this pretty.

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“Excuse me?”

“On Alex.”

Lucy choked on a bean. “Why the fuck would I do that?”

“Because you’ve been in love with her since before she came out.” Maggie’s eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head. “That’s the part that threw me. As much as she talked about you, I really thought you were dating. And you acted like you were.”

Lucy clenched her jaw. “Some of us are more careful about throwing open closet doors, Sawyer.”

“So why are you here?”

“The one Alex wants is you,” Lucy said. She slid a thick manilla envelope over to Maggie and gathered her things. “You make her happy. If you have the guts to fight for what you want, take this over there. I have a feeling you’ll need it.”

“I’m not the only one who makes her happy, Lane,” Maggie called after her. “I’m just the only one who called her out on it.”

She was absolutely right. And that’s why Lucy ignored her and made her way out of the precinct, J’onn’s ringtone thankfully playing seconds after she started the car.

“I’ll be right there.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy opened her door to a Kryptonian-strength hug in the morning. Kara wasn’t in her hallway, it was Alex lifting her off her feet. Lucy had not had enough caffeine to deal with this.

“Put me down, Danvers.”

“You’re the best, Luce. Thank you so much-”

“ _Down_.”

Alex set Lucy back on her feet. She took in Lucy’s stolen Metropolis University sweatshirt, miles too-large and past her knees, and the accompanying sweatpants that had been rolled half a dozen times and were still just a hair too long. She smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. “I, uh, woke you up, huh?”

“You could have at least brought coffee,” Lucy grumbled. “Get in here before you wake up the neighbors.”

Alex followed her in, shutting and locking the door behind her while Lucy started the coffee. She dropped a thick folder onto the counter. “You’re amazing, Lucy, and the best friend I could ever ask for, _but I can’t believe you sent her over with NDAs_.”

“The only way you were gonna move past this was if she knew who Supergirl was. I take it you told her?”

“She figured it out, apparently.” Alex glanced at Lucy’s cup. “You gonna give me one?”

“Hell no. Get up and get your own, you’re not a guest here.”

“What am I, a trespasser?”

“You know where the cups are, get them yourself,” Lucy said. She glared a little when Alex reached the shelf of spare mugs with ease. “You worked everything out, I take it?”

“Uh, yeah. We’re gonna talk more, when things are bothering us.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Lucy snorted.

“Hey, I’m not the only one with walls, okay?”

“Trust me, I’m aware. Talking to the two of you is like banging my head against a wall of Kryptonite. Not even a Super could get through to you two if you didn’t want to listen.”

“Yeah, well we did.” Alex fiddled with her coffee cup. “Thank you, Luce. If you- If you hadn’t called me out, I might have lost her.”

“You two would have figured it out,” Lucy shrugged. “It just would have taken longer. I figured I’d speed up the process.”

Alex smiled. “You’re amazing.”

Lucy rolled her eyes, feeling the slight flush she wasn’t awake enough to will away. She wrapped both hands around her mug and sipped slowly at her coffee.

“I was wondering though, if maybe, since we’re both off today, we could have a movie day. Make up for the nights I’ve been missing.”

“Shouldn’t you be with Kara?”

Alex grinned. “I may, uh, have invited her after lunch.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Who’s paying for lunch?”

“Me. It’s on me, promise. I will feed the hungry hungry hippotonian.”

“You don’t want some one-on-one time?”

Alex nodded. “I do. With both of you, that’s why I’m here so early. Figured you and I could do breakfast, watch a movie or two, feed the beast, watch a few more, then she and I could do dinner and Sister night. I’ve been neglecting you both lately.”

“Fine, but we’re waiting to see Dracula until Kara gets here.”

“She hates scary movies.”

“There’s lesbians and one of them looks a bit like Lena Luthor, she’ll love it.”

Alex made a confused face. “Why would either of those things make Kara love a horror flick?”

Lucy laughed. “Oh, Danvers. We need to get your vision checked, you’re as blind as your sister pretends to be.”

“Wait- Luce, what are you talking about?”

“Run down to the store on the corner and grab some bacon, would you? I feel like a celebration is in order.”

“Lucy-”

“Chop chop, Danvers.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com) or let me know what you think in the comments. Or both? Both is good. *nods*


	10. Episode 10: Cotton Candy Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is not immune to dimples or ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

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**Cotton Candy Interlude**

After being called out by Maggie months ago, Lucy wasn’t exactly thrilled with seeing her so often. She didn’t need the knowing looks when her own eyes lingered on Alex’s smile and she sure as hell wasn’t appreciative of the smart ass compliments. She might joke with Alex about the perfection of her own ass, but hearing it from Sawyer was _weird_. Lucy wasn’t exactly avoiding seeing the two of them together, but she certainly wasn’t going out of her way to hang out, no matter how many times Alex suggested it.

If that meant a little more time at the club with Vasquez and a few more hangovers than usual, Lucy would learn to deal.

And then Livewire escaped from prison. Livewire was human, sort of, and because of that didn’t fall under the DEO’s jurisdiction. She should have been able to nurse her coffee and her hangover in peace.

Should have.

Instead, the dulcet shrill of her desk phone startled her from her light doze, sending an entire drum corps to pound somewhere just behind her left eyeball. The screaming from some asshat on the Defense Committee worked better than her coffee. Yes sirs, and no sirs, and a whole bunch of ass kissing to get him off the phone was the most she could handle without just hanging up on the armchair asshole.

She hung the phone up gently, making as little noise as possible. She tilted forward, resting her head on cool surface for a few moments. Lucy didn’t sit up when she reached for her cell phone and dialed J’onn’s number.

“J’onn. I need you to get over to the prison and review the security procedures.”

“Danvers is on it.”

“Yeah, I figured. But Washington called, they want command on site. Apparently we should have been prepared for this.”

“I’m afraid I can’t go, Major. I have a mandatory seminar with Pam.”

“Pam will excuse you,” Lucy argued.

“Not without writing me up.”

“Your her boss, J’onn J’onzz.”

“I’m afraid I can’t be spared, Major. Perhaps you should consider going yourself.”

“You aren’t the only one with things to do.”

“I’m not the only one with things to avoid, you mean?”

“J’onn-”

“I’m sorry, Major. Schott is calling me over, seems we have some new leads on tracking her.” J’onn lied.

She knew he was lying. He knew she knew he was lying.

“Tell Detective Sawyer I said hello,” he said before hanging up.

Lucy lifted her head up from the desk to glare at her phone. She sat up and threw back the remnants of her cold coffee, wishing for something stronger to throw in it.

On her way out, Vasquez handed over their sunglasses.

 

* * *

 

 

The buzz of each security door unlocking echoed in her skull. The light from the barred windows wasn’t helping, since prison rules dictated she lose the sunglasses. Lucy had had it with her day and she was just a few hours in.

She flashed her badge at the guys guarding the outside of the cell.

“Gotta be honest, I freaking loved Leslie Willis’ radio show before she went nuts.”

“Never tell Kara that,” Alex warned.

“Not unless you want a lecture from Snow White about the Evil Queen,” Lucy snorted.

Alex looked over with a smile. “Lane! What are you doing here?”

“DC wants answers.”

Maggie stood. She looked Lucy up and down. “You look like you were rode hard and put away wet, Major.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. “I’m too hungover to tell if that’s innuendo.”

“It was,” Maggie offered. Her slight smile went full dimple.

Lucy wanted to poke them back in. it was too early to deal with those. “Any ideas on how she got out?”

“Looks like an inside job,” said Alex. She frowned. “What does DC want with this? Leslie’s human.”

Lucy shrugged. “Wasn’t… really listening. Something about establishing security procedures, illegally detaining citizens with powers, blah blah blah.”

Alex snorted. “Have I ever mentioned how glad I am you’re in charge, Lane?”

Lucy smiled wolfishly and opened her mouth. Then she remembered Maggie was present, and closed it.

Maggie huffed as if she’d heard it anyway. “Sorry we don’t have much for you-”

“Ma’am, you can’t go in there-”

Lucy craned her neck to look behind her. “Kara’s here.”

“Hey! Freedom of the press, buddy!”

Lucy looked back at Alex. “Did… did she not take government in high school? That’s… that’s not how that works.”

“How long do you think they can hold her off for?” Maggie asked.

“I’ll give it about five seconds,” Alex smirked.

“Ten, at least,” Maggie laughed. “She’s _way_ too polite.”

“Oh, you wanna bet?”

“You’re both wrong,” Lucy said. “Fifteen, from when Alex made her bet.”

“If I’m right, you’re both trying vegan ice cream,” said Maggie.

“That’s disgusting,” said Alex.

“Way to be a stereotype, Sawyer,” Lucy laughed.

“Shut up, Lane.”

“If I win, my place tonight,” argued Alex.

“If I win, I get to join you,” Lucy muttered.

Her eyes shot open.

Alex was blushing and stuttering.

Maggie smirked and raised an eyebrow. “You still drunk, Lane?”

“ _For real ice cream_ ,” Lucy hastily corrected.

“Okay, I’m not. No, I’m being nice,” carried Kara’s voice. “I’m being, no- I’m done being nice.”

“Deal,” Maggie and Alex agreed.

“Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen,” Lucy counted. At fifteen, she pointed to the door.

“Sorry,” Kara said as she shoved her way inside the cell.

Maggie made a face. “Well. _Chez_ Danvers it is.”

“For _real_ ice cream,” Lucy added. “Alex is buying. I’m not eating stuff your sister’s picked the good stuff out of.”

Alex grinned. Maggie smirked at Lucy.

“I’m sorry,” Kara said to the men at the door. She straightened her jacket. “Uh, Kara Danvers, Catco Magazine.”

“I tried to stop her but she’s so strong,” one of the officers complained.

“It’s okay,” said Maggie. “She’s with us.”

“Sorry,” Kara apologized again.

Kara looked around the cell and sighed. “How did this happen?”

Lucy nudged Kara. “I already reached out to Cat. She and Carter are safe in an area without electricity.”

Kara did a double take. “Ms. Grant is somewhere without electricity?”

“Something about a yogurt?” Lucy shrugged. “The connection was bad. But they’re safe from Leslie.”

Kara nodded and relaxed a little.

“It looks like an inmate named Lisa Gold and a thug disguised as a guard helped her out,” said Maggie.

“Or she kidnapped them,” Kara offered.

“Look, until we know for sure what happened, let’s just stick with the facts,” said Maggie.

“This was very well staged, and very well thought out,” said Alex, “And we know Livewire is not one for thoughts.”

“Well she’s mostly “Kill this, electrocute that.” She’s probably already killed that inmate and guard,” Kara argued.

“Hey, Kara.” Lucy grabbed both of Kara’s arms to still her. “Look at me, okay? We’re on this. I know having Livewire on the loose after she tried to kill you and Ms. Grant is probably terrifying, but you’re not alone, and we don’t know that she’s guilty of anything new, okay? That’s not how the legal system works. That’s not what the evidence says right now, okay? Let’s just calm down and focus on tracking her down so we can find out the truth, okay?”

“I-I can’t just-” Kara sputtered. “I can’t just believe she’s innocent. We have to find her. Before she hurts someone else.

Kara pulled away from Lucy and shot a glare at her sister. She stomped away without another word.

Lucy made a face. “You get her next freak out, Danvers.”

Maggie frowned. “Livewire tried to kill your sister?”

Alex nodded. “Mm-hmm. Kara refused to leave Ms. Grant unprotected. So she’s just as likely to go after Kara as she is Supergirl, if she’s free.”

“Huh.”

Lucy smirked. “Livewire’s got a thing for blondes.”

Maggie snorted.

Alex was not nearly amused. “Do you need anything else, Director?”

“Brownie bites tonight,” Lucy smiled. “And I’m not sharing.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy wasn’t pleased to be woken up shortly after she fell asleep with a text from J’onn.She’d begged for a raincheck from Alex and Maggie, no longer in the mood for confusing company and ice cream after a long day dealing with Senators and her father on the phone. She was even less pleased to find it was a photo of a broken monitor. Any other agent would have property damage taken out of their paycheck. But Supergirl didn’t receive a government paycheck so much as a grocery supplement in return for services rendered.

DELL did not accept potstickers in lieu of cash.

She was even less pleased to be called into work not two hours after rolling over and going back to sleep.

Because Supergirl had expected Podboy to follow orders, and when he hadn’t, James’ stupid ass got hurt.

Lucy might not be hungover anymore, but her mood hadn’t improved from this morning. She leaned against on of the few bits of open wall, her arms crossed and frowning.

“So cool. I know I don’t technically need a motorcycle, Jimmy, I am a very fast man, but I would very much like one,” Superboy gushed.

Alex rolled her eyes and set down the flashlight she’d been using to check on James.

“You know? Where would I… Where would I find a motorcycle? Is there a superhero discount?”

“Wouldn’t you have to be one first?” Lucy asked.

Alex and Winn snickered.

Supergirl stormed into the exam room. All three of the boys suddenly looked like she’d just kicked over their sandcastle.

Lucy tilted her head. The arms said Alex, but the face… Supergirl’s face was definitely mimicking J’onn’s best ‘disappointed dad.’

“It’s a cool suit,” said Kara. She looked at Winn. “Yours?”

Winn nodded and looked away.

Alex crossed her arms and stepped decidedly away from the boys.

James seemed to take that as his sign to face up to his lies for once. “I was going to tell you.”

Lucy snorted.

“I told him to tell you last night,” Winn chimed in.

“I told you both weeks ago,” Alex said.

Supergirl frowned. “You all- you _all_ knew?”

“Um, I didn’t!” said whatshisface. “I thought James was a professionally handsome desk person.”

“That would require actually doing his day job,” Lucy added helpfully.

James glared at her. Lucy smiled back, unrepentant.

“Um, Kara…” James cleared his throat. “This is between us. Not the peanut gallery.”

Lucy pushed off from the wall. “Was that a short joke?”

Kara crossed her arms. “Yeah, you’re right. Can we have a minute, please?”

Alex could set a track record for how fast she booked it out of the room. Lucy noted podboy and Winn moved much slower, practically forcing her to shuffle them out of the room. She paused at the door to look back at Supergirl and her ex.

Lucy briefly thought about speaking up for… either of them, really. But the mess of feelings between them was their problem. She had her own minefield to navigate, and a whole new bermuda triangle to get lost in.

James was an idiot, but so was Kara. They were shit at handling their feelings towards each other when he was unavailable, they were shit when they were both single, and now the two were stuck in a weird place of might-have-beens. Lucy wanted no part in that mess. She closed the door soundly behind her.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy found Alex not far away, in another observation room with J’onn. M’gann was in a bed, hooked up to the monitors and unmoving. Lucy frowned. She was unaware that M’gann had been moved from her cell, let alone that she needed to receive treatment.

Lucy stayed out in the hallway, just out of hearing.

J’onn looked pensive. Alex… looked like she was talking him down from the mood he’d been in since he found out the truth about M’gann.

Lucy hadn’t been able to get him that far, she’d leave the rest up to Alex. James and Winn had disappeared somewhere, probably to get into more trouble. She leaned against a wall again, closing her eyes against the overhead glare.

Alex poked her arm a few minutes later. “Hey, you okay?”

“Headache.”

Alex frowned and leaned closer. She brushed a stray hair out of Lucy’s face. “Headache or migraine?’

Lucy smiled thinly.

Alex dropped her hand from Lucy’s face to her arm. “C’mon, Lucy. I’ll give you a ride home. Is this why you bailed on ice cream?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you were just hungover.”

“Pft.” Lucy snorted. “I may not be you, but even I’m over a hangover by lunch.”

Lucy kept her eyes closed as they walked. She trusted Alex not to run her into anything, and the base was quiet in the evening hours. The skeleton crew that ran night shift rarely wandered the halls unless doing security checks, and the guys watching the cameras knew better than to comment on anything she or Danvers did.

Alex, for her part, kept quiet. Lucy was pretty sure Alex was using breathing exercises and stealth training to keep her breathing steady and her footsteps quiet. It was overkill, but appreciated.

Alex had Lucy tucked into the front passenger of a DEO vehicle before she realized they’d even made it to the garage. Lucy fell boneless against the back of the seat, throwing an arm over her eyes. Alex let out a huff and buckled her in, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

The ride was smooth, with Alex avoiding potholes and gliding to stops at yellow lights rather than gunning them like she usually did. Alex parked illegally in front of Lucy’s building and insisted on walking her up. She waited for Lucy to unlock her door and slip inside.

“Feel better, Lucy.”

“G’night, Alex.”

Lucy didn’t hear the elevator buzz until after she’d slid the last lock into place. She was changed and tucked in bed before she remembered Alex lived fifteen minutes from the city base, but in the other direction.

Lucy pulled the covers over her head and fell asleep with a smile.

 

* * *

 

Lucy had fun letting J’onn rip Winn a new one. More so, she enjoyed the soft smile on Winn’s face after J’onn complimented him, and she _loved_ how fast it dropped away when she informed him about the mandatory training regime she’d set up for him and James. And the way his face paled when she mentioned he’d have to see Pam to fill out some paperwork first.

Lucy was feeling much better than the night before.

There was a spring in her step as she hit the stairs to the overlook. Paperwork was her favorite form of revenge, and it was never in short supply at the DEO. She had even gotten Pam to promise to lose the boys’ first set of triplicates before they could be properly filed, ensuring Winn and James would have to fill out the same forms no less than six times in the coming week.

She hoped they got papercuts.

“So she’s just out there. Free,” said Sawyer.

“As a bird,” Kara said.

Alex stood up from where she leaned against the railing. “Why’d you let her go?”

“Livewire could’ve killed me,” Kara explained. “But she didn’t. There’s still some good in her.”

“And if she comes looking for trouble, she’ll get it,” Lucy grinned. “The sleepover she’s looking for will just have to take place in a cell, Supergirl.”

“I-wha-Lucy!”

Maggie snickered.

“Maybe she’ll come looking for help!” said Kara.

Kara looked away from their disbelieving faces and glanced down below. James and Winn were talking, probably discussing their new DEO assignments. They didn’t look happy, and that made Lucy smile wider.

“Excuse me,” said Kara.

Lucy took up a spot at the rails on Alex’s empty side.

“So, she let Livewire go,” said Maggie.

Alex nodded. She looked over at Lucy and made a pained face. “Mh-hmm.”

Maggie’s lips split into a wide grin. “That means vegan ice cream at my place tonight.”

Alex’s dramatic ass crumpled. She made a pleading face and threw her arms out. “I never should have taken that bet. Gross!”

Lucy snorted. “Did you take drama in high school, Danvers? I can’t decide if it would be better or worse if you did.”

Maggie laughed and nudged Alex’s shoulder. “What do you say, Lane? You in? We can swing by Alex’s place and grab the brownie bite we picked up for you yesterday.”

Lucy paused. Her migraine was gone, but she wasn’t entirely sold on causing herself another one. She pursed her lips.

Maggie nudged Alex hard enough to knock her shoulder into Lucy’s. She looked around Alex with an encouraging smile. “C’mon, Lane. I need to make good on my bet.”

“Is your couch as comfy as Alex’s?”

Maggie pursed her lips. “Hmm. Good point. I’ll pick up a fresh pint of my favorite and meet you at Alex’s. I don’t have netflix.”

Lucy looked to Alex. “That cool with you, Danvers, if we invite ourselves over?”

“You two?” Alex smiled. “Always. See you after shift?”

Lucy took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you.”

She kept her steps measured as she walked away. If her hands shook, she doubted the lovebirds noticed.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was a little taken aback at having a half gallon of ice cream shoved into her hands the moment Alex’s door opened. “I thought the bet was a pint?”

“If you think I’m eating vegan ice cream all night, you’re nuts,” Alex muttered. “Come in, come in.”

“Hey, Lucy! How does Thai sound?”

“Better than the moldy pizza in my apartment.”

Maggie made a face. “You’re as bad as Danvers, aren’t you?”

“Hell no. I’ve never melted an oven.”

“That was-” Alex paused. She frowned. Then her eyes widened comically. “My mother told you about that?”

“I love Eliza,” Lucy grinned.

Maggie smiled awkwardly, “I’m sure she’s great, considering her daughters.”

“She is,” Lucy agreed. “And she’ll tell you just about anything you want to know if you ask her, Maggie. She’s gonna love you.”

“Eh, I’m not… great with parents.”

Maggie fiddled with the torn and stained menu in her hands. Lucy tilted her head to the side as Alex moved around Maggie to grab at spoons.

“That’s alright, Sawyer. If any of us were good with parents, we wouldn’t crash the Danvers’ holiday meals.”

Maggie nodded and let Alex hip check her out of the way. Three spoons were pulled out, and Alex led the way to her couch. Lucy shrugged and followed. Maggie swung by the freezer to grab her pint.

Lucy took the far corner so she could wedge herself in with her feet up.

“That’s my spot you asshole,” said Alex.

“Your armrest is right there,” Lucy said, pointing her spoon at Maggie.

“Watch it, Lane,” Maggie warned. “Lucky for me, my seat is free.”

She took the seat next to Lucy, only inches from her toes.

Alex huffed and threw herself on the other side of Maggie. “You just want me farther away from the real ice cream.”

“Careful, Alex. Being vegan is a time-honored tradition of lesbians everywhere,” Lucy teased.

“Fuck you, Lane. I’m lactose intolerant,” said Maggie. “I can barely handle all the pizza I eat with this one here. I refuse to limit myself to two spoonfuls of ice cream.”

Lucy held her hands up in surrender. She stuck the spoon in her mouth and ripped the lid off the ice cream. She wasn’t waiting for Alex to throw on a movie.

Maggie pulled the lid off hers and took the first bite. She moaned.

Lucy froze. She side eyed Maggie. “Having fun there, Sawyer?”

“I mean, it’s not my favorite thing to eat, but it’s up there,” Maggie grinned.

“Oh yeah?” Lucy snorted. “What’s your favorite thing to eat?”

Maggie opened her mouth.

“Tiramisu,” Alex interrupted.

“Close, babe.”

Alex glanced up from the remote, her brow furrowed. “What?”

Lucy shoved another spoonful into her mouth and snickered.

“Did I miss something?”

“Only every day of your life, Danvers,” said Lucy.

Maggie filled her spoon again and shoved it into Alex’s mouth. “There, now. Not so bad, is it?”

Alex made a face as she swallowed. “Okay no. That’s disgusting. First you feed me fake ice cream, and then you make it one that tastes like oral hygiene.”

“It’s more fun when it tingles,” Maggie replied.

“That’s what she said,” Lucy snorted.

“Oh my god, stop encouraging her!” said Alex. She reached around Maggie and tried for the carton that Lucy kept moving out of reach. “Hand it over, Luce.”

“I don’t know that one bite fulfills the bet. I think you need to eat at least half.”

“Lucy!”

Lucy reached over and swiped the spoon out of Alex’s hand. She took a big scoop, careful to only grab one bite of brownie, and gave it back.

Alex shovelled it into her mouth. She moaned at the taste of chocolate.

Lucy ignored Maggie’s knowing look in favor of kicking off her shoes and shoving her toes underneath the other woman’s thigh.

Alex cracked one eye open as she chewed. “Wa’a’mn.”

“What was that, Danvers?” Maggie asked.

Alex swallowed. “You _ass_ , I already get Kara eating all the chunks. Hand over the ice cream.”

“Make me,” Lucy grinned. She wiggled her toes. Maggie’s jean covered thigh flexed above them.

“Lucille Priscilla Lane!”

“My middle name is not Priscilla and you know it.”

Alex snickered. “Give me the damn ice cream, Lane.”

Lucy begrudgingly moved the carton close enough for Alex to get her own spoonful. She refused to let go of the carton though, causing an awkward tug of war over Maggie’s lap. Maggie held her own false idol of an ice cream impersonator above theirs and munched away.

Alex took three spoonfuls, enough to make her look like a chipmunk, before she let go of the carton and reached for the remote.

Lucy was expecting maybe something on their queer education list. Xena, perhaps. She should have known better.

She also should have known better than to expect a detective in the Science Division to protest Alex’s choice of Bill Nye’s new special. She rolled her eyes and settled into the corner.

Three episodes in, Lucy handed the carton back to Alex behind Maggie’s head, and a whirlwind blew the windows open. Maggie shifted closer to Lucy almost automatically.

No one was surprised when Kara settled between Alex and Maggie, curling into her sister’s side. Even less surprising washow Kara’ stole the spoon and carton from Alex and started to dig out the good bits.

Lucy quietly mourned the loss of her ice cream.

“Kara?” Alex asked gently. She wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulders and ran her fingers through her sister’s hair.

“Guys suck.”

“Well, no one here is going to disagree with you,” Lucy laughed.

Maggie snickered.

Alex rolled her eyes at both of them. “What happened, Kar?”

“Mon-El came by.”

Right. That was his name.

“James was right. He’s only pretending to want to be a superhero for me. He has _feelings_ for me.”

“You can do better,” Lucy said.

“Lucy,” Alex warned. “Kara. Go grab another spoon and forget about him, okay? Just us girls here, no boys. No idiots allowed.”

“You kicking yourself out of your own apartment, Danvers?”

“Lucy, I swear to God-”

Kara laughed. “Be nice, Lucy.”

Lucy shrugged. She’d make no promises.

Alex rolled her eyes and got up in search of another spoon when Kara made no move to do so. As soon as she was seated, she hit play once more.

Lucy was so absorbed in the science that she didn’t notice Maggie’s attempts to get her attention until Maggie stuck the pint of imposter cream on her ankle, shocking her to attention.

“Fu-”

“Shhh!” hushed the Danvers’.

Maggie smirked and tilted the carton of fake mint chocolate chip towards her.

Lucy eyed it suspiciously before taking a spoonful. She was never going to get hers back now that Kara was here- and if she did, it would only be plain chocolate by then anyway.

The cream of coconut milk and the burst of mint hit her tongue. She couldn’t help but let out a quiet groan of her own.

She ignored the feeling of Maggie’s eyes staring.

Lucy reached for another spoonful, but refused to admit with words that it wasn’t half bad. That Maggie’s fake ice cream was delicious, and creamy, and fatty.

She certainly didn’t make plans to somehow fill all of the cartons in Kara’s freezer with the less desirable soy-based ice creams in revenge for stealing hers.

And she definitely wasn’t going to admit to adding the dairy-free ice cream to her grocery list for the days when she wanted a mint pick me up.

No, Lucy Lane refused to admit that Sawyer was right.

She kept eating anyway.


	11. Episode 11: The Human Cannonball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Alex is stuck in the DEO, Maggie comes to some decisions. In the aftermath, doors are blown wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUPER special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for all their help plotting out this ep. _AND_ for getting JDT to tweet back a hot ass pic of her on a bike. 
> 
> Thanks to [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for equally awesome beta work at odd hours, and, let's hear it for [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com)'s wonderful gifs yet again. Thanks for taking one for the team and studying Alex's ass for very important research!

****

****

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**The Human Cannonball**

Lucy stole Alex’s beer. Over at the bar, Kara sunk into her seat while podboy walked away. Neither of them struck Lucy as particularly happy. She shared a look with Alex and they headed over. Alex stole her beer back, much to Lucy’s displeasure.

Alex leaned against the bar on one side of Kara, while Lucy took the other.

“Oh, that looked serious,” said Alex.

“He told me he liked me the other day.”

Alex widened her eyes. “I’m so shocked.”

Lucy snickered. She swiped at Kara’s drink, sure that she’d stop Lucy if it was poisonous. Lucy made a face at the disgusting taste of club soda. She shivered and set it back down, her tongue scraping against her teeth to remove the nasty.

Kara took her drink back. “Was it that obvious?”

“Duh!”

“To anyone with eyes, Kara,” Lucy agreed. She tilted her head. “Probably a few blind people, too, come to think of it.”

“Well, I don’t like him, and I had to tell him.”

“Good for you!” Lucy cheered. “Let’s get real drinks to celebrate.”

“Celebrate shoving both feet into my mouth?”

“Being that flexible is _seriously_ impressive and worth celebrating,” said Lucy with wide eyes. “Work on tucking them behind your head though-- that one took me a while… and some help.”

Alex pursed her lips and shook her head. Her ears tinged red, even in the darkened bar. “Ignore Lucy, Kara. Besides, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

Kara put her face in her hand. “It was, it really was.”

Alex rubbed her sister’s shoulder. Lucy nudged Kara’s other shoulder.

Kara sighed. “But onto more important things. Earth birthday!”

“Yes!” said Alex.

“Bearthday?” Lucy offered. She ignored the rolled eyes and smiled at Kara’s excitement.

“13 years since I crashed here on Earth!”

Secrecy, what was it good for? Lucy sighed and shook her head. Kara was careless when she was giddy. But Lucy didn’t miss the way Alex’s face dropped a little.

“So,” Kara continued. “I know we always just do cupcakes, but I was thinking we should go all out for lucky number 13. I’ve always wanted to try country line dancing, so I made us this reservation at a club. If we get there before seven, they teach us all these tutorials and the dances!”

Kara paused. “Ohhhhh. I should call them and make sure that we can rent cowboy boots.”

Lucy snorted. She would be willing to pay a _ridiculous_ amount of money to see Alex Danvers in cowboy boots and a Stetson. Her eyes glazed over at the thought of chaps.

“Uh, well, about Earth birthday…”

Alex’s words were like a record scratch at a house party. Lucy returned to reality.

Alex smiled awkwardly. “I know we celebrate every year, but the thing is-”

Alex’s hand motions were getting wider and more sweeping. And more guilty.

“Thing is… that, um, Maggie surprised me with concert tickets to the Barenaked Ladies tonight.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. Then she remembered they were a band, and that Alex had awful taste in music.

“Oh.” said Kara.

“And, um, she knows that I’ve loved them since college,” Alex shrugged. “It would be our first concert together, and so, you know, I was… Maybe if there’s...Do you think we can celebrate another night?”

Kara pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

Maggie came running up. “Oh, my _god_ , Danvers! You are not going to believe this.”

Lucy slid onto the stool next to Kara, tired of having to stand on her tiptoes to look around her. She poked Kara’s side to get her to lean out of the way.

“One of the guys at my precinct is working security at the venue tonight, and he was able to upgrade our tickets to VIP!” Maggie slammed the tickets on to the bar. “Boom!”

“Oh. My. God! That’s amazing!” said Alex.

Lucy shook her head. She was surrounded by gorgeous women, but they were such ridiculous nerds.

Kara looked away and stirred her drink.

“That’s great,” Alex said. She looked at her sister, and her enthusiasm seemed to shrink. “That’s great.”’

Maggie looked between Kara and Alex. “Is… is everything okay?”

Kara smiled. “Sounds like you guys are gonna have a lot of fun tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asked.

Kara nodded.

Lucy leaned over. “Go, Danvers. I betcha Kara and I will have more fun tonight anyway.”

Kara frowned and looked at Lucy. “What?”

“I’m Army, Baby Danvers. I’ve been to Texas, and I own the boots.” Lucy winked lasciviously at Alex and Kara. “And the chaps.”

Alex blinked at Lucy for a long moment. She shook her head and focused back on her sister. “You sure?”

“Go! Yes, go! Have fun.”

Alex squinted at her sister. “Okay.” Alex kissed Kara on the cheek.

Maggie patted Kara on the back. “See you guys later, Little Danvers, Lucy. “

“Okay, bye, _go_.” said Kara.

Lucy spun in her seat and waved a few fingers after them. She watched them go, hand in hand. Her eyes might have wandered to a pair of wonderful asses in tight jeans for a second. Lucy sighed.

She glanced over at Kara, who’d sunk back into her seat. Lucy nudged her. “Hand me Alex’s beer. If I’m doing this, I need to start getting white girl wasted early.”

“What are you talking about, Luce?”

Lucy drained the beer. “Ten percent of country music is women singing about murdering their abusive husbands. That, I can get behind. The rest is about beer, trucks, tractors and dogs.”

Kara looked pointedly at the now empty bottle in Lucy’s hands. “Don’t worry about it, Lucy.”

“Oh, no. Nope. We’re celebrating. We’ll sneak some alien booze in with us if we have to- I have an awesome flask that fits in my bra- but we are celebrating. I want to see you in pigtails and a cowboy hat!”

Kara grinned. “Okay. But only if I get to take pictures. And no more drinking til tonight.”

Lucy pouted.

Kara stared at Lucy over her glasses. “I mean it.”

“Ugh, _fine._ ”

“Swing by my place around 6:30?”

Lucy nodded. “I’ll be there with my boots made for walkin’. Or steppin’ as it were.”

Kara hopped out of her seat and gave Lucy a bone crushing hug. Lucy watched her leave, looking much happier. Lucy rolled the beer bottle between her hands. She wished she hadn’t just promised Kara not to drink.

Lucy might know how to line dance. She might own the boots and the hat. Cowgirls were hot, and Lucy made the leather look _good_.

But she fucking _hated_ country music.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy arrived at Kara’s door at ten to six, carrying a bag of burgers and wearing her boots. The hat she left at home when she found out that it didn’t fit well in her saddlebag. Still, the fitted jeans and a white tank under a blue flannel, paired with her worn boots would be more than enough to fit in at country night. She wasn’t worried when Kara didn’t answer her knock, she figured that Kara must be out as Supergirl and she’d show up sooner rather than later. Lucy slipped a credit card out of her pocket and checked around for anyone watching before she let herself in.

Kara might be Supergirl, but she _really_ needed to use her deadbolt when she was expecting company.

Lucy grabbed a burger for herself and tossed the rest on the counter. Her leather jacket, the other concession for bringing the bike, was draped over a chair. She hopped onto the couch and made herself at home, propping her feet up on the coffee table to admire the fit of her boots.

She made country look good.

Ten til became six. Six became 6:15. 6:15 became 6:30, and Lucy started to worry. She shot a text to Kara, asking for an update.

6:45 came around with no word from Kara. No response from Winn or J’onn… or even Vasquez, who was at the DEO helping track the White Martian’s after M’gann.

And then she got a text alert.

_Lockdown initiated: Beta Site, 1847 hrs_

The automated alert system. Lucy cursed. Her feet came off the table and hit the floor with a thunk. Phone in hand, Lucy grabbed her coat and sprinted out of the apartment. She paused at the elevator to backtrack and lock the inside handle, letting it shut behind her.

Lucy took the stairs instead, hitting four on her speed dial.

“Sawyer.”

“Sawyer, it’s Lane.”

“Oh, hey. Have you seen Alex? She went to talk to Kara, but she was supposed to meet me here, and the opening band starts soon.”

“About that,” Lucy huffed. “Something’s gone wrong at the base. It’s locked down.”

“And the Danvers’ are right in the middle of it?” Maggie asked. Worry laced her voice.

“I’d bet my commission on it,” said Lucy. “I’m at Kara’s. Meet me there in ten.”

“Got it.”

Lucy hung up and shoved the phone in her pocket. She pulled her helmet out of its storage and slipped it over her head as she hopped on, and in seconds, she was speeding towards the DEO. Three red lights and about a dozen traffic infractions later, Lucy screeched to a halt beside Maggie in front of the building.

Maggie sat astride her bike, helmet off. Her hair was loose and wild, and Lucy wanted to touch it.

She shook her head. “Any word?”

“No. Doors are locked up tight.”

Lucy removed her helmet, shook her hair free, and handed her helmet off to Maggie as she slid off her bike. “Wait here.”

“Lane-”

Lucy ran up the stairs and began punching in code after code. Each and every override code flashed red. She cursed again.

“That was creative.”

“Thought I told you to stay with the bikes?”

Sawyer grinned. “You know better.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. She slammed her hand on the wall. “We’re not getting in from outside until they open it.”

Lucy headed to their bikes, Maggie hot on her heels. She was already on her bike when Maggie whistled.

“Nice boots, Lane.”

“And they’re made for talkin’ not walkin’. Tara and I are headed to the desert base to see if I can get into the feeds here, at least see what’s going on,” Lucy said.

“Your bike’s a girl?”

“What else would I ride?” Lucy smirked. “I haven’t wanted to drive stick since I broke up with my boyfriend.”

Maggie snorted. “Only you, Lane. I’ll follow.”

“Afraid to give up control?”

Maggie hesitated. “How much more paperwork is it going to be for me to find out where your other base is?”

Lucy grinned and slid her helmet over her head. She revved the engine briefly before taking off.

Where was the fun in spoiling the surprise?

 

* * *

 

 

Unfortunately, Parker was in the command center when Lucy and Maggie hurried in.

Unfortunate for him, that is.

“That’s funny, Lane. I thought Sawyer was _Danvers’_ side piece. She didn’t strike me as the sharing type.”

Lucy punched him in the stomach to bring his face down. She grabbed him by the ears, and broke his nose on her knee. “Johnson, get him out of here.”

“Yes-yes, ma’am!” Johnson saluted. He reached under Parker’s arms and dragged him out of the room.

Lucy raised an eyebrow and looked around. “Any more smart ass comments? No? Great, get back to work. Juarez, bring up the feeds from Beta Site.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lucy marched to the center of the room for the best view of the wall monitors. One by one, they switched from views of cells to different spots around the city site. It worried her as feeds cut in and out, lights inconsistent and flickering.

“Pst, Lane.”

“Yes, Sawyer?” Lucy kept her eyes on the screens.

“That was hot,” Maggie grinned. “That being said, you know I can take care of myself, right?”

“You can. But I don’t feel like breaking in a new liaison,” Lucy murmured. “And Danvers won’t work with just anyone.”

Sawyer chuckled. “Love you too, Lane.”

Lucy ignored the twinge. Something caught her attention on monitor three. “Juarez, stop there-”

Alex and Kara moved down a corridor towards the camera. When they reached the corner, the two paused. Alex motioned for Kara to look around the corner.

“Why is she doing that?” Lucy asked. “Kara doesn’t know what that means.”

That much was clear, as Kara just shook her head on screen. Alex hissed something at her, and Kara poked her head around the corner.

“Holy shit, Lane-” Maggie grabbed her arm. “Three over, look!”

Two masses of… something were attached to a wall.

“Juarez!”

Juarez zoomed in as much as he could. He tapped at a few keys, cleaning up the image.

Alex’s head was just barely visible through the mass. Lucy looked back at the first screen. Kara and Alex were still on screen.

“ _Fuck_. Juarez, do we have comms?”

“No, ma’am. I’m surprised we have video, to be honest.”

Lucy reached up and loosened the fingers digging into her arm. “Fuck. _Alex._ ”

“Guess we know why they weren’t answer- holy shit!”

Not-Alex smirked and transformed into a White Martian.

“Holy fuck.”

“Lane, I’m… I’m sure she’s fine.”

Lucy’s eyes darted back and forth between the two monitors. Her heart was racing, and she didn’t really care if her men saw her freaking out, not over Danvers. The guys in CC were used to her complaining about both of the Danvers sisters giving her a heart attack.

On the one hand, it looked like J’onn and M’gann had found Alex and begun cutting them free. On the other, Kara was barely holding her own. Thankfully, the White Martian quickly gave up on trying to use Alex’s face against Kara. Lucy really didn’t enjoy watching the two try to kill each other.

Maggie might regret holding her hand later.

J’onn and Winn ran off, appearing on another screen, closer to Kara. M’gann stayed with Alex. Lucy tightened her grip on Maggie’s hand. Alex was holding her head, she wasn’t getting up like Winn did. Alex didn’t _stay_ _down_ , that was one of the things Lucy loved and hated most about her. Lucy’s heart raced. Maggie squeezed back.

They both let out a sigh of relief when Alex stood, only wavering a little, and leaned on M’gann’s shoulder.

But of _course_ , Alex couldn’t stay out of trouble. She headed straight for the generator room.

Lucy looked back at her other friends. J’onn and Kara seemed to have both White Martians down. Winn worked furiously at the machine, visibly relaxing when the warning lights stopped.

And then one of the White Martians stood back up.

She wasn’t sure if the cracking knuckles she heard came from her hand or Maggie’s. They’d both probably have bruises later.

Alex came around the corner and took out the White Martian with her stupid new gun.

Lucy sagged into Maggie’s side.

“Lane, hey, it’s alright. It looks like they’re fine.”

Lane nodded. “Yep. Yes. Of course she i-they are. We should go check on them.”

Maggie led Lucy out of the base and back towards the parking garage. They had almost reached their bikes when Maggie began to snicker.

“What’s so funny, Sawyer?”

“It’s just… your base is mostly underground.”

“Bunkers tend to be.”

“Sure. But you spend all of your time here. Kinda makes you seem like a bit of a… hobbit. This is your hobbit hole.”

Lucy suddenly felt much less tired. She shoved Maggie, nearly sending the woman over the side of her bike. “You’re an asshole, Sawyer.”

“Whatever you say, desert Hobbit.”

“Fuck. You.”

“You would be so lucky,” Maggie laughed. She stood up straight and dragged Lucy into a hug. “Alex is fine, Lucy. We’ll see her in a bit, okay?”

Lucy sank into the hug. Maggie reminded her of her mom’s old cedar chest and Alex’s spare leather jacket. She breathed in deep and her shoulder dropped. “Thanks, Mags.”

Maggie pulled away with one last squeeze and stepped away. “Sure thing, Lane. Uh, tell you what. I’ll go to Alex’s and make dinner. You go pick up our- Alex. You go pick up Alex, okay? I doubt she should be driving.”

Lucy wouldn’t admit she missed the warmth of Maggie. “You sure you don’t want to do that? I can cook.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, you ass, I can cook.”

“Uh, sure, I guess. If you want to?”

“Yeah, uh. I know you said you’re lactose intolerant, but Alex really likes my lasagna. Is that okay or should I think of something else?”

“It’s fine. I have a bottle of lactaid, I can take some of that before dinner.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Yeah, thanks, Lane. We’ll see you in a bit?”

“Yep.”

Lucy watched her drive out of of the garage. She shook her head and hopped on her own bike. She had dinner to make.

 

* * *

 

Lucy tried to squeeze the life out of Alex the moment she walked through her door. “You’re lucky I don’t wring your neck, Danvers.”

“I’m okay, Luce,” Alex said. She wrapped her arms around Lucy and squeezed back, shuffling her back into the apartment so Maggie could enter.

Maggie shut the door and pulled off her jacket. Lucy snorted and pulled away from Alex to get a better look.

Her lips twitched as she stared at Maggie’s tee. Maggie grinned and posed to show it off.

“That’s the nerdiest way to say you’re a lesbian I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve been known to enjoy a good pun… Periodically,” Maggie winked.

They stared at each other, completely straight faced for a moment, then burst into hysterical laughter while Alex watched on with a smile.

“I worry about you two.”

“You love us, Danvers,” Lucy said.

Alex blushed. “You have your moments.”

The buzzer dinged.

Lucy hip checked Alex out of the way. “Lasagna’s done. Maggie, salad’s in the fridge, if you don’t mind. Danvers, get the plates.”

“But I’m injured.”

“ _But I’m injured,_ ” Lucy mocked. “Stop taking on the bad guys on your night off.”

Alex stepped up behind Lucy. Lucy felt every inch of Alex as she pressed against her back and resisted the urge to step back into that heat. She stood stock still as Alex reached up to grab the glasses in the upper cabinet to their right. Alex pulled down three and leaned into Lucy’s ear.

“You just can’t reach the plates.”

Lucy shivered when Alex pulled away, taking the heat with her. “Fuck you, Danvers.”

Alex smirked and walked away.

“Goddamn baby gays with goddamn game,” Lucy muttered. She opened the oven door and grabbed her oven mitts. She switched out the lasagna and pushed a pan of cupcakes in its place. She reset the timer and turned.

Maggie and Alex were joking around by the table, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. Lucy pursed her lips and brought the food to the table.

“You’re awesome, Luce.”

“This smells great, Lucy,” Maggie agreed.

They settled down to eat, and no one really spoke. Alex moaned enthusiastically at the taste of cheese and sauce, but that was nothing new. Lucy tried very hard not to blush or squirm every time Alex did it. She kept her eyes on her plate, ignoring the stares she could feel.

“You gave us a scare, Danvers.”

Alex smiled sheepishly. “I’m really sorry. You lined up an amazing date, Maggie, and Lucy had plans with Kara. I… I didn’t think swinging by to talk to Kara  would end up like, well…”

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers?” Lucy snorted.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That doesn’t matter, Alex, to either of us,” said Maggie. “What matters is that it reminded me that I’m not the only one worried about you-”

Lucy nodded.

“-or the only one that has feelings for you.”

Lucy began to nod when the words caught up with her. “Wait-what- _Sawyer_!”

Alex froze. Her eyes darted between Maggie and Lucy.

“I really, _really_ like you, Alex. And I know you like me, too.” Maggie took a deep breath. “But Lucy has feelings for you, too- don’t bother denying it, Lane- and I know you feel the same.”

“I- What makes you think that?”

Maggie smiled wryly. “You say her name, sometimes, in your sleep.”

Lucy jerked her head up. She said Alex’s name often, but she was rarely asleep when she did it.

“I-I-Maggie, I’m with you.”

“I know,” Maggie shrugged. “And we’ve discussed our way up and down the rainbow, Danvers. You know that there’s more out there than what you’ve explored. I mean, that’s why I turned you down, right? Because I wanted you to explore your options.”

“I want _you_ , Maggie,” Alex said.

Lucy couldn’t help but flinch.

“I want you, too, Alex. But you and Lucy, you share something special, too. If you guys want to explore that… in whatever way… that’s fine with me. You could date each other, and you and I could date, or I could step back and you two figure things out, or-”

“That one’s not going to happen,” said Alex.

“I’m not a homewrecker,” Lucy spat.

“Well, that still leaves Alex dating both of us.” Maggie paused. She took the time to look between Alex and Lucy. “Or, you know. We could all date each other. Together.”

Her stomach twisted. Maggie’s suggestions surprised the hell out of her.

“Alex, it’s…” Lucy sighed. “I’m not going to lie. I have… _feelings_ … for you. But I’m fine being friends, I swear.”

“We could do that, too.” Maggie agreed. “You can keep dancing around your feelings. Lucy can keep pulling away, and you can keep rubbing me in her face accidentally, until neither of you can take it anymore and your relationship implodes.”

Alex frowned at Maggie.

“I’m a detective, Danvers.” Maggie smirked. “I detect.”

Lucy swallowed.

Alex rubbed the back of her neck. She looked back and forth. “I-”

“You don’t have to make any decisions now. I just wanted to… blow the doors off the closet again, you know? Clear the air, maybe give Lane a reason to break my hand the next time you do something stupid.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, yeah that’s… that’s a good thing, probably.”

The oven buzzed again.

“Excuse me,” said Lucy.

Lucy pulled the cupcakes out of the oven and turned it off. She carefully tugged at the paper of one to remove it from the tray. She tossed it back and forth to help it cool before setting it down on the counter. She pulled a “K”-shaped candle out of the junk drawer and set it on the counter next to the cupcake. From the fridge, she pulled a small bowl of frosting.

“What-what are you doing, Luce?”

“You expect me to believe you’re not swinging by Kara’s before the end of her Bearthday?”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like birthday, but I know you’re making that stupid pun again.”

Lucy grinned and poked at the cupcake. It was still a little hot. She tossed it in the freezer for a moment.

“Lane, what the hell are you doing?”

“Cooling it off, Sawyer, what’s it look like I’m doing?”

“Something weird.”

Lucy shrugged. “Icing will never survive the trip over if it’s too hot.”

She grabbed a plastic bag out of a drawer, spooned some of the icing into it, and snipped off a corner with kitchen shears. She grabbed the cooled cupcake from the freezer, and set to work making a pretty spiral cone on top. The bottom cabinet to her left held the smaller tupperware. Lucy picked one out and packaged the cupcake, tucking the candle and a lighter next to it before securing the lid. She grabbed a small plastic plate from the same drawer and slid it underneath.

“Here you go, Danvers. One cupcake and one candle for your sister.”

Alex shared a glance with Maggie. She smiled softly. “You’re amazing, Lucy. You mind coming with me? I probably still shouldn’t drive.”

“Alex Danvers, following doctor’s orders?” Lucy joked.

“Cupcake’s precious cargo.”

“Shouldn’t you go, Maggie?”

Maggie raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I didn’t even know what today was, otherwise I would have made different plans. You had plans with Kara, you should go. I’ll hang here and frost the rest of the cupcakes or something.”

“You sure?” Alex asked.

“Yep. Go on babe, have fun. Tell Kara I said happy… not birthday thing. Lucy’ll take care of you.”

“Always,” Lucy nodded.

Alex shrugged. “Okay, yeah. But we’re taking the SUV.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’ll take your stereotypical federal agent black SUV.”

Lucy loved Alex’s SUV. Alex went all out on her car the same way she did on her bed, her apartment, and her bike.

Lucy just hated the fact that she had to jump to reach for the handle and pull herself into the seat.

 

* * *

 

Lucy really wanted to know why Alex was so quick to warn Kara to blow the candle out _gently_. There was a story there, and she would find it. Even if she had to call Eliza to get it.

Eliza loved her, she’d share it in a heartbeat.

“Thank you. Was Maggie mad you missed the concert?”

“Well, luckily, I have a girlfriend that understands when deadly aliens besiege my place of work, that takes precedence. Plus, Lucy made us all dinner even though she and Maggie spent the evening worrying.”

“You made dinner and didn’t bring me any?” Kara pouted.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled a container from behind her back and handed it over. “I also made the cupcakes, so clearly I’m spoiling you both.”

Kara giggled.

Lucy and Alex settled on one side of the island while Kara grabbed three forks.

“I’m glad everyone’s okay. That last White Martian…” Kara shuddered. “Oof!”

Lucy clenched a fist on the counter.

“First of all, boy did it do a good impression of you, and second, you got there just in time.”

Alex reached out and gently untangled Lucy’s hand. She tugged it off the counter and into her lap. She wound her fingers around Lucy’s.

“Uh, speaking of that White Martian, um…” Alex’s free hand tugged at her sleeve. “When it was me, did you have a conversation? Because I have these memories. They’re like a… Almost like a dream, that we talked. But I’m not really sure it was real.”

Lucy squeezed Alex’s hand.

“Do you remember?” Kara asked.

“Yeah. So I’m not crazy?”

“Nope,” Kara said. She handed Lucy and Alex each their own fork. “I guess if the White Martian’s bond is strong enough, the telepathy goes both ways.”

Lucy squirmed. She felt like she was intruding, but Alex wasn’t letting go of her hand.

“Yeah, I guess so…” Alex murmured. “Kara. I’m not ever going anywhere. I promise. Just because I’m… I’m with Maggie, it doesn’t mean I’m not with you…”

Alex trailed off. She glanced at Lucy and back at her sister. “Always.”

“I know. I… I guess I made those big plans because I wanted the day to be extra special. I felt you were slipping away.” Kara glanced up. “Uh, no offense, Lucy.”

“None taken.” Lucy held up her spare hand. “I can go to the bathroom or outside or something, really.”

Alex rolled her eyes. Lucy tried to stand, but Alex tugged her back down. “I’m… I’m clearly bad at balancing my time. I guess I’ve been kind of a shit friend, and a bad sister. But I’m not slipping away. From you or from Lucy. Ever.”

Kara nodded.

Alex raised her eyebrows. “But is that the only reason you made such big plans?”

“Wha’d’y’mean?”

Lucy had picked up her fork. She set it back down, suddenly not interested in sugar as a distraction. Food was less appetizing when seen from inside the mouth of a Kryptonian.

“Look, sometimes, you know, in our life,when one part is really confusing, we will pour way more attention than necessary into another. And, you know, you looked a little bit overwhelmed when you talked to Mon-El.”

“Maybe it was the Axe,” Lucy muttered.

Alex elbowed Lucy in the ribs. “So, maybe the reason that you made such big plans with me, and then with Lucy, was so that you didn’t have to think about how you actually feel about him.”

Lucy cleared her throat and tried not to throw up. “I think what your sister means to say, is that, you know, feelings are hard. Thin line between love and hate or whatever. And things like, for example, _heteronormativity,_ those things could cloud your feelings and overwhelm you.”

“Yeah, uh. I told him how I feel. I don’t like him.”

“Mm-hmm. And you really believe that?” Alex asked.

Lucy elbowed Alex this time.

Kara dug into her cupcake. “He’s… complicated.”

“Banana hammocks usually are.”

Alex and Kara stared at Lucy. She shrugged. “You know. Dickbags.”

Kara snorted.

Alex let go of Lucy’s hand and shoved her. “Jesus Christ, Lane.”

“Sorry to interrupt your deep advice, Yoda.”

Kara grinned. “Lucy’s got a point. But it’s not just about him, it’s about me. Every time I put myself out there, it backfires. I don’t want it to happen again, it’s too risky.”

Lucy blinked. She wanted to know when Kara had gotten up the nerve to ask out Cat Grant. Kara Danvers had a type, but it wasn’t tall men.

“You know, I happened to have taken a rather big romantic risk lately.”

Kara giggled.

Alex smiled and glanced at Lucy thoughtfully. “I gotta say… it pays off. Maybe-”

“Maybe you shouldn’t give up just yet, Kara,” Lucy interrupted. “You’ll know when it’s right.”

The sisters giggled and made faces at Lucy. They finished the cupcake, but Alex didn’t make a move to linger. She hugged her sister tightly, and waited by the door for Lucy to do the same. They said their goodbyes, and Alex waited until they were in the elevator to talk.

“What do you have against Mon-El.”

“A list longer than the elevator. Why are you pushing her to him?”

Alex sighed. “I can promise I’m never going to leave. But I’m just human, Luce. You’ve seen Clarke. He’s in his _forties_.”

Lucy nodded. “Okay, but what I’m hearing from that is we should start introducing her to _younger_ people, not space fratboys.”

Alex snickered.

Lucy bumped her shoulder against Alex’s.

Alex opened the lobby door, but she didn’t pull it out of the way. She leaned into it, blocking Lucy’s exit. “You know. The fun part about being Kara’s Yoda is that… I’m not-I’m not always talking just to her, you know? Sometimes I’m talking to me, too.”

Lucy frowned.

“I’ve gotten some wise words from two very important people lately.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, this one lady, an amazing friend, really, so much better than I deserve. She told me that the best part of falling in love, the part that makes it worth it, is the feeling of coming home.”

Lucy’s breath caught in her throat.

“The other, equally gorgeous, equally amazing woman. She showed up at my door one night and said ‘We should kiss the girls we want to kiss.’” Alex paused, her eyes darting down to Lucy’s lips. “And I want… I want to kiss you. And Maggie. And if you and Maggie want to kiss? Well, that’s even better, in my book.”

Lucy tried once, twice, three times to speak. She cleared her throat. “You’re, uh… you’re going to have to let me take you to dinner first.”

Alex grinned, “Yeah?”

“Maggie, too, if… if she wants. She’s pretty awesome.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. She stepped out of the way and held the door open, motioning for Lucy to pass through first. “So are you, though.”

“I _am_ amazing,” Lucy grinned. “My ass is even better, don’t you think?”

Lucy jumped.  She hadn’t expected Alex to slap her ass _at all_.

Lucy was suddenly equal parts terrified and excited for the near future.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We went off the rails with this one, and there's more like it to come, as our girls get the screen time they deserve. Let me know what you think in the comments, over on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com), or, you know, both is good. XD
> 
> Was that enough slow burn for you? XD XD XD


	12. Episode 12: Adagio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy plans her revenge, and she and Maggie break Alex a little. Also, Kara might be even more oblivious than her sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for helping me plot out what the hell Lucy's doing, [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for beta work, and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the gorgeous gifs.

 

**Adagio**

Date three. Heteronormativity dictated this would be The Night. Unlikely, considering Lucy had yet to even kiss either of them on the lips.

She was dying.

But Alex bet her she couldn't resist. Lucy would be damned if she caved.

They've kissed on the cheek. Held hands. Lucy’s eyes had wandered everywhere her hands wanted to. They'd lingered everywhere she wanted to touch, every sliver of exposed skin, every loose hair she wanted to tuck back, Lucy’s eyes had touched it all.

Alex would cave first, Lucy was sure of it. Maggie was not an overwhelmed babygay. In the right circumstances, Lucy could see it happening, but the bet wasn't that _Maggie_ would cave.

That didn't stop her from being an absolute asshole. Every chance she got, Maggie would brush up against Lucy. She watch Lucy’s hungry eyes and put her hands where Lucy wanted to touch- on Alex, or herself. She'd drag Alex down for dirty kisses full of tongue and groans… while Lucy sat in between them.

Alex was more than happy to play along.

She would get them both back, and this time, the only paperwork involved would be a list of limits.

Lucy picked out her brightest red lipstick, smoked up her eyes, and picked her skimpiest little black dress. Her tallest heels too, to bring her eye level with Alex. If Maggie would bury her face in Lucy’s cleavage when they hugged hello, that was just a bonus.

She wasn't pacing when they arrived to pick her up, she was counting the steps between her little kitchen and the door. Lucy certainly didn't wait an additional 30 seconds before taking the last three steps to answer the door. Or lean against the door jamb specifically to achieve maximum boobage.

“Ladies,” Lucy said.

Maggie smirked and raked her eyes over Lucy from head to toe. “Evenin’, Lane.”

Alex stared. Her eyes darkened, and her fingers twitched at her sides. “Lucy. You-you look… you look…”

“Delicious?” Maggie offered.

Alex licked her lips. “Yeah. That.”

“You're welcome to have a taste any time you want, Danvers. Just admit I have more restraint.”

Alex’s gaze came back to Lucy’s face. “Hell no. You ready?”

“Ready for you?” Lucy smirked. “Always.”

Maggie offered her arm. “Then let's not miss our reservation, ladies.”

Alex led the way to the elevator. Lucy stared at her ass with no shame. The skirt of her dress didn't flare until it reached her knees.

“Wonderful view tonight,” said Maggie.

“Stop staring at my ass, Sawyer,” Alex said. She hit the button for the elevator and turned to lean against the wall. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows challengingly. “Like what you see, Lane?”

“Every damn day, Alex.”

Alex blushed. Lucy made sure to keep her blushing the entire ride downstairs.

Lucy groaned when she saw Alex’s SUV out front.

“Problem, desert hobbit?”

Lucy grit her teeth. “Not at all, city dwarf.”

Alex rolled her eyes and opened the back door. “I'm driving tonight, so hop in whiners.”

“You're driving in those heels?” Lucy asked.

Alex’s heels weren't as high as her own, but they were still high enough to make driving uncomfortable. Especially for someone more acclimated to combat boots.

“In.”

Maggie and Lucy were buckled in when Alex hopped into the driver's seat. Alex double checked all of their mirrors before pulling out of her space.

“Hey, Danvers. You never told me where we’re going tonight?”

Alex glanced into the rear view mirror to catch Lucy’s eyes. She smirked. “Isengard.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped. “Fuck. You. Danvers.”

Alex muttered something as she turned on the radio.

Lucy was at least 80% sure the words were “I wish.”

Maggie snickering at her side made her more confident that was true.

 

* * *

 

 

The three gorgeous women were seated quickly, thankfully. Their brief pause at the bar attracted a few men that were brave enough to attempt approach, before the hostess found them. Lucy was glad for her excellent timing, her dress was new and she liked the looks it inspired on Alex and Maggie’s faces. She'd hate to ruin it with blood stains, entitled asshole was hard to get out of designer materials.

She'd keep her dessert fork handy just in case.

Alex pulled a chair out and motioned for Lucy to sit. She did the same for Maggie, before taking the chair across from Lucy. That meant less physical teasing and more mental. Lucy was a combat vet, she could definitely handle that.

Maggie's hand landed on Lucy's thigh, and she briefly reconsidered her stance.

“Now I'm paying tonight, Luce,” said Alex. “No sneaking off to find the hostess, or slipping your card to a waiter on a trip to the bathroom. I. Am. Paying.”

“Not if I get there first,” Maggie smirked.

“Wait, is that why you wouldn't tell me where we were coming tonight?”

“So you couldn't call ahead and put your card on a tab?” Alex narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”

“I did that _once._ ”

“Out of two dates,” said Alex.

“Maggie tried to pay the second time,” said Lucy.

“Oh, I paid,” Maggie smirked. “Just not with money. Don't worry Lane, I'll close out my tab with you soon.”

Alex took a sip of her water and choked.

“I hate you both,” Lucy muttered.

Maggie squeezed Lucy's thigh. “Liar.”

“Hi ladies, my name is Michael and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get you to drink?”

He could get his eyes out of Alex’s cleavage, if he knew what was good for him.

“We’ll take a bottle of the 2013 Jordan Cab, thanks,” said Alex.

Lucy blinked. She’d had more expensive bottles to share before, but $50 at a store translated to three times that in a restaurant. “Are we… celebrating something?”

Alex shrugged. “I have the two most gorgeous women I’ve ever met _on a date_ at a nice restaurant. What’s not to celebrate?”

Lucy smirked at Maggie, “She always this goopy?”

Maggie squeezed her thigh. “All the time, Lane.”

Alex blushed. “Shut up.”

Lucy grinned. “I can’t wait to find new ways to make you melt.”

Alex cleared her throat. “Lane. Seriously.”

Lucy raised her hands and chuckled. She spread the linen napkin in her lap, over Maggie’s hand. Maggie didn’t move it, instead running her short nails lightly against her skin. Lucy reached for her water, suddenly finding it a bit warm. “You’re both gorgeous tonight. Thank you for picking me up.”

“Thank you for coming,” said Maggie.

Alex nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Luce. For giving me, us, a chance.”

“How could I not?”

“Well… I did out your feelings,” said Maggie. She smiled wryly. “I did mean well?”

“You did,” Lucy agreed. “I wanted to kill you a little, both times. But don’t worry, I’ll get my revenge.”

“Revenge?” Maggie smirked. “I look forward to it… as long as it isn’t paperwork.”

“No promises.”

“Lucy!”

Lucy widened her eyes and smiled innocently. “Yes, Alex?”

Alex narrowed her eyes, but whatever she planned to say was interrupted. Their waiter arrived with a decanter and the dark bottle. He popped the cork and poured a little for Alex to taste. She sniffed it, swirled it, and sipped. After a moment, she nodded. He poured out glasses for them, and poured the remainder into the decanter and set it in the middle of the table.

“So, ladies, what’s on tap for girls night?”

“Dinner and drinks,” Maggie answered shortly.

“Ah, classic. You all look lovely, by the way.”

“Thanks,” they echoed flatly.

“Would you like to know the specials tonight, or have you decided?”

Alex glanced at the girls. “I’ll have the filet mignon.”

“The seared salmon for me, thanks,” said Lucy.

“Uh… the Chicken Caprese.”

“Wonderful, I’ll have that out for you girls ASAP.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. She nudged Maggie. “Health nut.”

“Right. Salmon is so unhealthy. Unlike the walking heart attack over there.”

“I could have just ordered desserts,” Alex shrugged.

“We’re going to have to watch that, you know. She keeps sneaking unhealthy stuff into my apartment.”

“I know!” Lucy groaned. “I found frozen chocolate cake things in my freezer. I sure as hell didn’t buy them. Ate ‘em though, after dealing with Mon-El the other day.”

“You ate my cakes?”

“My freezer, my food.”

“I was hiding them from Kara!”

Lucy shrugged. “Hide them with health nut next time.”

Maggie snickered. “Uh, no. I ate them last time.”

“I hate you both,” Alex grumbled.

“Liar,” Lucy and Maggie chorused.

Alex crossed her arms and pouted. Strands of her hair fell loose and into her eyes, making her look even younger. “You guys are mean.”

“Aw, guess we’ll just have to find a way to make it up to you, babe.”

“Just as soon as you give up and kiss me,” Lucy agreed.

“I’m not giving up, you’re gonna cave tonight.”

“I am not.”

Maggie snickered. “I’m glad I didn’t make that bet.”

“You haven’t kissed me yet, either, Sawyer. You scared or something?”

Maggie quirked an eyebrow. Her hand shook free of Lucy’s napkin and moved up to caress Lucy’s cheek. She glanced at Alex, smiled, and looked back at Lucy. Lucy nodded. Maggie’s fingers danced along Lucy’s skin and curled around her neck. She pulled Lucy to her, their first kiss gentle. Lucy licked Maggie’s lips and their kiss became deeper, wanting.

“Holy _shit_.”

That wasn’t Maggie. Lucy and Maggie separated slowly, their breathes mingling as they paused, eyes closed, and foreheads touching. Maggie let go of Lucy’s neck, and they turned to face Alex.

“All good, Danvers?” Maggie asked.

“Holy _shit_.”

“Alex?” Lucy asked. “Was that-was that okay?”

“ _Holy shit._ ”

“I think we broke her,” Maggie said.

Alex reached for her wine with wide eyes. She looked back and forth between Maggie and Lucy before taking a long swallow.

“Alex, honey?” Lucy asked. “Seriously, was that okay?”

“That was… that was _hot_.”

Lucy snorted. Maggie’s shoulders shook with laughter. Lucy relaxed a little, even more so when Maggie’s hand returned to her thigh. Lucy shook her head. “Never change, Danvers.”

“Is that what it’s been like for you?”

“Lately, yeah.” Lucy shrugged. “But a bet’s a bet, and I’m not going to lose.”

Alex nodded.

Dinner arrived, along with their waiter’s attempts to catch any of their attentions. Alternating moans at the flavor and quieter conversations mingled with scraping forks and a second glass of wine each.

Alex scraped her fork along her empty plate. “I, uh. I wanted to talk to you two about something.”

Lucy and Maggie stiffened.

Alex took a deep breath and looked up. She smiled. “Nothing bad! I promise! I was… I was just thinking it’s, you know, time. To come out to everyone.”

“That’s great, Alex!” said Lucy.

“That’s awesome,” Maggie agreed. “What can we do to help?”

“I want to introduce my amazing girlfriends.”

Lucy winced. “I’m… both of us?”

“Well, yeah. You’re both important to me.”

“Polyamory is… that’s a big thing, Alex. Especially on top of coming out in the first place.”

“I’m all in, Lucy. You two are… you mean so much to me.” Alex bit her lip. “Do you… do you not feel that way?”

“No! No, Alex, of course I do.” Lucy looked to Maggie, who’d been silent. “You… you and Maggie are amazing. I can’t wait to see you two, like, from the moment you leave. It’s just….”

“You’re not ready to come out?” Maggie asked.

“Eh, if they haven’t figured out I’m bi, they haven’t been paying attention. I stare at Alex’s ass _all the time_ .” Lucy waved a hand. “It’s just that, while I’m sure they’ll be great, eventually… Polyamory doesn’t get the best rap, you know? And you deserve to have the best coming out possible. Plus, we haven’t talked to Pam. I don’t think the DEO even has _forms_ for polyamory, and you’re not my direct report, but we still have to let HR know we’re a thing, you know?”

“So…” Alex frowned. “What… are you suggesting?”

“You should come out, Alex, you absolutely should. But I think, maybe, maybe you stick to introducing Maggie for now.”

“Lane, you know her better-”

“No.” Lucy shook her head. “No, Maggie. You two were first, you’re the one Kara knows about.”

Alex winced.

“It makes sense that it’s you. When we’ve gotten everything straightened out- well, as straight as a polyamorous triad consisting of two lesbians and a bisexual can be-”

Maggie snorted and Alex rolled her eyes.

“-we can tell them about me. I- I’m all in, too. And we have a great circle of friends, but I don’t want to give anyone an aneurism just yet.”

Alex made a face. “I’m proud to be dating you both.”

“I know. I am too.”

“Me, three.” Maggie agreed. “I want whatever you two are comfortable with. If Lucy’s not comfortable coming out as a group, we should respect that.”

“I do!” said Alex. “I just… they’re my family, you know?”

Lucy snorted. “And they’ll take it far better than my father will that I’m dating women, let alone _you,_ Danvers.”

“Hey!”

“What’s wrong with Alex?” asked Maggie.

“She’s Supergirl’s sister. And he, uhhhh, arrested her for treason and tried to send her off to CADMUS before Kara told me who she was and we rescued her and J’onn.”

Maggie raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“That’s a story for another time,” said Alex. “Are you sure, Lucy?”

“Yes. I’m not going to be hurt, or whatever, Alex. I promise.”

“Will you-will you be there, though?”

Lucy smiled. “Yes, Alex, of course. What kind of bestie would they think I was if I didn’t show for something this important?”

Maggie snorted. “Just gals being pals.”

Lucy laughed and squeezed the hand on her thigh.

Alex pursed her lips, considering. She glanced around and waved for the waiter. “Yes, take my card and ring us up, please? We have places to be.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “In a hurry to go someplace, Danvers?”

“And without dessert?” Maggie teased.

“Oh, we’ll have dessert,” said Alex. She stared right at Lucy, the edges of her lips twitching. “I have a bet to lose.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Another round’s on it’s way,” Kara said as she slid into the seat next to Lucy.

Lucy nudged her shoulder. “Thank _god_ , these guys think they’re interrogators or something.”

“Hey, I am a pulitzer winning journalist-”

“ _Photo_ journalist,” Lucy added.

“-and I am curious about Alex’s new man, I’m allowed to ask questions.”

“To Alex, maybe.” Lucy raised her eyebrows. “I owe you nothing.”

Kara slid Lucy’s glass closer. “Alex is private. You should feel special she’s inviting you to meet her new person at all.”

“We do! We totally do!” Winn said. “We’re just, you know, curious.”

“You okay, J’onn?” Kara asked.

“Uh, yeah. It’s just the first time I’ve been in this bar since, uh… M’gann left.”

Lucy offered a sympathetic smile. It had to be hard, to have made, lost, found, and lost again a friend from your home planet after so long alone.

“For one, I’m very excited to meet Alex’s new mystery man.”

“Again, Schott? You can’t wait like, five minutes?”

Winn stuck his tongue out at Lucy. He rubbed his hands together and leaned into the table.

James leaned in too. “Hey, do we know what, um, what he does for a living? Alex’s guy?”

“Uhhhaaaa….a cop,” Kara said.

“Oh!” James said.

“Yeah, no way Alex Danvers doesn’t date someone who doesn’t own a firearm,” said Winn.

Lucy snorted into her empty glass. He wasn’t wrong. “Look, you guys aren’t going to find out anything I haven’t already. I looked into the cop, squeaky clean. Alex found a good one.”

J’onn winked at Lucy.

She made a face at him, and pointedly ignored the way he mouthed “Pam.”

Alex approached the table, Maggie shyer and slightly behind her. Lucy caught her eye and stuck her tongue out.

“Hey, um… You all remember Maggie, right?” Alex asked.

James caught on first. “Hey, yeah. Good to see you again!”

“Alex,” Winn chuckled. “I… I didn’t know? Did you know?”

J’onn huffed in a way Lucy was pretty sure he learned from Alex. “Yes, I knew, I’m psychic.”

Lucy snorted. J’onn knew almost as much as Pam, and sometimes faster. He nudged her foot under the table. Lucy rolled her eyes and flashed a bright smile at the awkward pair. “Hey, Danvers. Sawyer.”

“How come you never said anything before?” Alex asked.

J’onn smiled and glanced between Alex and Lucy. “It’s not for me to say. Good for you, Alex.”

Alex beamed under J’onn’s praise. It was adorable.

Alex knocked shoulders with Maggie, who smiled and ducked her head.

“Drinks up!” Mon-El said, interrupting the moment. “Here we go, bubbly club soda for the lady-”

“Thank you,” said Kara.

“-Bourbon on the rocks for the scary one-”

Lucy didn’t bother to hide her smirk as she accepted her drink.

“And beers for the guys. Anything for you two?”

“Uh, hey, Mon-El.” Alex nodded. “I just wanted to let you know that Maggie and I are dating.”

“Oh, that was the thing! Okay.” He paused and looked around. “Ok that’s… Is that like a… problem here on Earth or…?”

“Well, on Earth, you know, not everybody supports ladies loving ladies,” said Alex.

Lucy choked on her drink. She was dating a giant nerd.

“Oh, on Daxam, it’s the more the merrier,” he said enthusiastically. “Drinks for you guys?”

Lucy reached for her empty glass. J’onn reached across the table and plucked it out of her hand.

Alex took a deep breath and turned back to the table, running a hand through her hair. Lucy winked at her. Alex smiled and let her shoulders drop as she relaxed with a sigh.

“Hey, do you play pool?” Maggie asked.

“Pft. _yeah_ ,” said Winn.”

“No you don’t,” said James.

“What?” asked Kara.

“It is geometry with sticks, folks.”

“I think you mean _trigonometry_ , Schott,” Lucy said.

“Pool is easy,” he said, choosing to ignore her completely.

“Let’s go do it,” Maggie said.

James stood up. “Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Congrats,” he said, offering Alex a hug.

“Thank you,” she said.

Maybe he was pulling his head out of his ass after all.

J’onn stood and headed for the pool tables. “Alex, my money’s on your girl.”

“Yeah, thanks, me too, “Alex agreed.

“Oh, this I gotta see,” said Lucy. She pushed away from the table and linked arms with Alex, dragging her over to the pool table. “This is gonna be a show.”

“Be nice, Maggie’s not _that_ bad.”

“Winn will be, it’s going to be awesome. I hope he hits Mon-El in the throat.”

“Lucy!”

“What? _The more the merrier_ ,” Lucy sneered. “I should have known he’d be into orgies.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical?”

“Uh, no. Because we don’t have orgies, we have committed, consensual, _feelings-fueled_ romps with our polyamorous partners, not sex with untested randos.”

Alex blushed. Lucy would never get tired of that.

Winn sent a ball flying at Kara’s head. She caught it and stared at him.

“Sorry!”

Lucy and Alex laughed, sharing a warm look with each other and Maggie, who’d finally found someone worse than her at pool.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy skipped the trial, and almost regretted it, after Lillian Luthor escaped.

She was in the City’s command, waiting on Supergirl’s report, when the hero in question came in at her sister’s side, with Maggie trailing behind on her phone.

She’d barely gotten her greetings out when Maggie hung up and stormed over.

“I had someone check the prison visitor logs, to see how the Kryptonite might have gotten smuggled in,” said Maggie. “But he hasn’t had any visitors since he’s been there.”

Alex and Supergirl frowned. Lucy crossed her arms and waited for the rest.

“And when they swept his cell yesterday, there was nothing out of the ordinary,” Maggie continued. “Which means he must have gotten the Kryptonite last night.”

“That narrows down the window. Why do you look so concerned?” Alex asked.

“Because there was only one visitor to the jail last night,” Maggie said. She took a deep breath. “But it was for Lillian Luthor.”

“Who?” Supergirl asked.

“Her daughter, Lena.”

“Lena Luthor, key witness in her mother’s trial?” Lucy asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Kara may have… encouraged her to talk to her mother yesterday,” Supergirl admitted. “She wanted to see Lena, and Lena wasn’t sure she should go, but I reminded her that her mother was still her mother. Maybe she wanted to apologize.”

“Circumstances as they are, I’m thinking not,” said Maggie. “I need to speak with Lena.”

“She won’t talk to you,” Supergirl said. “But she might talk to Kara.”

Supergirl flew off.

“Anyone else really weirded out when she talks about herself in the third person?” Lucy asked.

Maggie snorted. “I have to go, they’re still processing evidence. I might run late tonight.”

“We’ll save you some leftovers,” Alex promised.

Maggie nodded and kissed Alex on the cheek. She hesitated next to Lucy. Lucy rolled her eyes and gave Maggie a hug. “Be careful out there.”

“You too,” said Maggie.

 

* * *

 

 

“Metallo’s strong, but something’s off. His Kryptonite isn’t right. I think it’s hurting him,” said James.

Alex prodded gently at the burn. “You’re lucky you didn’t take a direct hit.”

“Very lucky,” Kara agreed.

“I had my shield.” James grinned. “I love that shield.”

The affronted look Kara sent him belonged on a wife whose husband just ranked his sportscar above their marriage, not his ex-almost-something. J’onn nudged Lucy hard enough to knock the pending giggle right out of her.

“And I know what I’m doing, Kara.”

Lucy snorted. James had been so busy at CatCo and running around prisons hoping to convict Lena Luthor that he’d missed several of his training sessions. He was in for a doozy the next time he bothered to show up.

“Even if Metallo’s weakening, though, he still is a fanatic follower of Lillian Luthor. We have to find out where he’s taken Lena, and help her.”

“What is it going to take for you to realize that Lena is a criminal?” James asked. “She’s not the victim. She got the Kryptonite. He broke her out of prison.”

Alex, for all her protective tendencies, was oddly quiet on the matter.

“Lena’s not a member of CADMUS!” Kara yelled. “She’s not.”

Kara looked around. Only Lucy would meet her eyes.

“She stopped the gang with the alien weapons. She saved Alex’s life, when Corben tried to kill her.”

“She shot Corben and then her crazy mom turned Corben into Metallo,” James argued. “She could have had that planned the entire time.”

“We have to start treating Lena Luthor like a hostile,” said J’onn. “The evidence is too overwhelming.”

Kara sighed. “Winn? If you watch that video, I know you’ll find something.”

“I did.” Winn motioned at his tablet. “It’s… it’s clean.”

“Then find something to prove her innocent.”

“Everything we’ve seen so far says the exact opposite,” said J’onn.

Kara paused. “She’s my friend. And I believe in her.”

Alex sighed and stared after her sister.

Lucy rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.

“Dear god, there’s two of them,” she muttered.

“Hmm? You say something, Luce?”

“Keep digging, Schott. This feels weird. No Luthor would hand us their guilt on a silver platter, adopted or not.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was thrilled to know that Lena was innocent. Kara might make it a point to be idealistic almost to a fault, but she didn’t have bad taste in people. Her friends were always spot on, even if they were all a little selfish sometimes.

She was less thrilled to have Supergirl break rank and ignore the order to evacuate before Corben’s Kryptonite core exploded.

Of course, J’onn flying off to help did not better her mood.

Honestly, Lucy was lucky that Alex was human. If Alex could fly, Lucy would never be able to keep her out of harms way, not with the idiocy that her sister and space dad pulled all the time.

Lucy would take the small blessings where she could.

Once Supergirl confirmed she and Lena were safely out of range of the blast, Lucy relaxed. She tugged Alex’s apartment key away from her. “I’ll get started on dinner. You check on Kara.”

The ride to the apartment was quick, and dinner didn’t take much prep. She had it in the oven and simmering by the time Maggie walked in.

“You heard the news?”

“Mm-hmm. Lena Luthor, framed,” said Lucy.

“1PP is probably going to bench me for _months_.”

“You were working with information you had at the time,” Lucy said. She tasted the pasta sauce and added more salt. “You got a warrant, your ass is covered. If they try to take it out on you, let me know and I’ll pull some strings.”

Maggie wrapped her arms around Lucy from behind, and buried her face in Lucy’s neck. “You got strings, hmm?”

“String bikinis too, maybe you’ll see them one day.”

Maggie laughed. “A girl can dream. Need any help?”

“Set the table? Alex should be here soon.”

“Checking on Kara?”

“Yep. She cleared the blast, but you know Alex.”

“Yeah.” Maggie paused. “Kara’s never going to forgive me, is she? God, I was a bitch.”

“You’d be surprised what Kara’s willing to forgive,” Lucy said. Kara and Alex both. She never thought she’d be forgiven for sending Alex away, and yet here she was. “Just apologize. And maybe listen when Kara says something about a person. I know you have a job to do, and you have protocols, but Kara… Kara isn’t as easily fooled as you’d think. She’s far more intuitive than that sunny front makes you think she is.”

Maggie nodded and reached for the glasses. She grabbed the first two easily. The third required bracing a hand against the counter and jumping for it.

“Don’t say a word, Lane,” Maggie warned.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sawyer. No judgement here.”

A sound at the door had them both spinning. Alex, still in full gear, shoved the door open and dragged her key out of the lock. Her shoulders sagged with exhaustion. “Honies, I’m home.”

 

* * *

 

 

She and Maggie were both still there come lunch time the next day. They’d gotten out of bed around eleven, thankful for a rare shared day off. Maggie was in the kitchen, while Lucy and Alex nursed coffees on the couch.

Kara let herself in.

Lucy was just thankful everyone had finally put on pants.

“Kara, we talked about this.”

“Sorry! I didn’t think you had plans, and I didn’t want to… check.”

“Phones are a thing, Baby Danvers.”

“Shut up, Lucy- Lucy?” Kara adjusted her glasses. “What are you doing over here?”

“Mooching food. Sawyer’s a great cook.”

Kara looked to her right and stiffened. “Oh, hi Maggie.”

“Hey, Little Danvers. Good morning.”

“Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was. With Lena being cleared of all charges.”

Maggie winced.

Alex stood up. “Did you need something, Kara?”

“Um. Do you think the hospital would appreciate a bunch of flowers delivered to the kids’ ward? If so, I need to borrow your car.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Have you suddenly found yourself in the florist business?”

“No, uh, no. Nothing like that, Lena just wanted to thank me for believing in her, and uh, convincing Supergirl to, so she, um… floodedmyofficewithflowersandIcanbarelyopentthedoor.”

“Say what now?” Lucy asked. She sat up on her knees and scooted around to lean on the back of the couch.

“Lena sent me a ton of flowers to thank me for believing in her, but some people at CatCo are complaining about their allergies. Can I borrow your car?”

“Lena Luthor… sent you flowers,” Alex said.

Lucy coughed. To the well trained ear, it might have sounded suspiciously like the word “gay.”

“Yes, she’s such a great friend.” Kara smiled at Maggie. “I’m really lucky to have her.”

Lucy was of the opinion that Kara needed to turn down the passive aggression a notch or twelve. This might actually be worse than after Maggie turned Alex down.

Lucy winced. Maggie was not setting records for winning over the sister.

“Look, Little Danvers- Kara. I’m… I’m sorry. I should have at least listened to you, to why you believed in Lena.” Maggie turned the stove off. “I definitely should have asked her to come to the station instead of marching her out in cuffs. I was just so, so frustrated that Lillian got away. I had friends at that bar, you know? Some of them were there.”

“You shouldn’t have taken that out on Lena, Maggie.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You should apologize to her.”

“I know,” Maggie said. She paused and shared a mischievous look with Lucy. “What are her favorite flowers? Should I bring her some, you thinks?”

“Plumerias. But I think you’d be better off just apologizing.”

“I will do that. I’ll do it later this afternoon, I swear.”

“You might want to call first, I doubt she’ll appreciate you dropping by again.”

Maggie nodded. “Yes, that’s a good plan.”

Alex clapped her hands. “Well, now that that’s settled. Why don’t you tell me why Lena’s sending you flowers while Maggie makes enough food for you to join us?”

“Yeah, Kara, join us for lunch.”

Lucy glanced over at Alex’s bed. It wasn’t made, but she’d had the foresight to shove their discarded clothing in the bathroom earlier. She only hoped there was an emergency before Kara needed to use it.

She glanced at Maggie and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Maggie smirked and went back to breakfast.

Lucy took another sip of her coffee only to find it empty. She wiggled it in Alex and Kara’s direction. “A little help?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com) or let me know what you think in the comments. Or both? Both is good. *nods*


	13. Episode 13: Ribbon Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's never had many holidays off, and this year is no different. Her favorite holidays aren't on a traditional calendar anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for talking me off a cliff, for [@salamadersaurus-rex](salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for catching my inability to English late at night, and [@daysofinspiration](daysofinspiration.tumblr.com) for heaping love on me. 
> 
> Extra thanks for [@freakykaethe](freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for all of her amazing gif work. 
> 
> Seriously, go say hi to them, this thing wouldn't exist with out them.
> 
> PS- there's a scene I'm planning for the outtakes. Can you guess which one?

****

****

****

**Episode 13: Ribbon Dance**

 

Clemson’s screen was full of diagnostics Lucy barely understood. He put them in layman’s terms for her and J’onn to understand, describing the tests they’d been running on the security upgrades post-White Martian.

Fifteen hours into a twelve-hour shift, and Lucy didn’t have much gas left in the tank.

She looked up and unfocused her eyes for a moment, ready to give them a break, only to be interrupted by an odd blue light and the sudden appearance of podboy. “What the fuck?”

Podboy, in his boxers and a ribbed tank. Lucy cocked her head to the side. She looked him up and down before he realized he was in his undies. She was surprised he acted awkward, from James’ tales of Superboy’s brief time as a CatCo intern, Lucy thought he was more of a less-clothes-the-better kind of guy.

She looked at J’onn and shrugged. “I’ve seen better.”

J’onn snorted. “Mon-El.”

“J’onn! Sir.” He smiled awkwardly. “ _I’m going to kill him_.”

“Put on clothing first,” said J’onn.

“Please,” Lucy added.

He’d only just reappeared, thankfully fully clothed, when Kara rushed in. Lucy had no idea what they were talking about, but J’onn seemed to.

“You’ve just been visited by a Fifth Dimensional being,” said J’onn.

Fifth dimension explained the blue light before Mon-El arrived. Time and Space being ripped apart. Again.

Sometimes Lucy wondered if she shouldn’t have stuck with CatCo and corporate law.

“Wait,” Kara asked. “You’ve seen one of these before?”

“Not here on Earth. On Mars, one of them moved the Xan’Xie Mountains halfway across the planet during the Zook Uprising,” J’onn said. He made a face and leaned against the table. “Fifth Dimensional life forms possess the ability to warp our reality to their own whims.”

Lucy snorted. “So, every white man’s power fantasy?”

J’onn’s lips twitched. “They have abilities that would appear, to all intents and purposes, to be magic.”

“On Daxam we had a zero tolerance policy for those creatures.”

Kara frowned at Superboy. “You had them on Daxam?”

“Yeah. Those guys knew how to party, but they’re dangerous. Very dangerous.”

J’onn sighed and turned. “Agent Schott, scan the archives for anything resembling Fifth Dimensional incursions here on Earth.”

“ _Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind_. You got it!”

Lucy shook her head. “Not it. I need some sleep. I’m going home.”’

She ignored the look from J’onn. “Call me if you need me.”

“Oh hey, J’onn! We’re ready to send your message to Mars whenever you are,” said Winn.

It was Lucy’s turn to send a look, and for it to be ignored.

“What message?” Kara asked.

“On Earth it’s customary to send messages on Valentine’s Day. We had a similar custom on Mars.”

“It’s too bad you can’t call her,” said Kara.

“We Martians are a psychic people. All our communication was through thought. But when we had something really important to say, we would often write it down.” J’onn paused. “On some planets, to write something is to truly say it.”

Lucy tilted her head.

“I’m sure M’gann will be very happy to hear from you.”

“Thank you, Kara.” J’onn smiled. “Lane, weren’t you going somewhere? To Pam’s office, perhaps?”

“You know damn well that woman doesn’t work past 5:01pm, J’onn J’onzz. But yes, I’m leaving. Have fun with your love letter to the stars.”

She’d pay for that later, but the look on his face? Priceless.

 

* * *

 

Mornings now were so much better than they used to be. For one, Alex’s monstrously large mattress was Lucy’s idea of heaven, only made better by the two women she shared it with. Mornings off meant slowly waking to the glow of dawn as light shone through the massive windows that served double duty as a Superpuppy Door. It meant stumbling over to the table in stolen clothes to find a cup of coffee already waiting in her spot, with Maggie reading the paper at the end.

It meant wrapping both hands around a still steaming mug and staring bleary-eyed as Alex approached.

“Black coffee, a sesame seed bagel, dry, double toasted. Gross,” Alex said, setting Maggie’s breakfast down. She grinned at Lucy. “Morning sunshine. You awake enough for food yet?”

“Mmph.” Lucy huddled over her coffee.

“Okay then,” Alex laughed.

“Thanks, Danvers!” Maggie reached for her food.

Alex flipped through yesterday’s mail. She paused on a bright red envelope.

“Oh… what’s that?” Maggie asked.

Lucy reached over to pinch off a piece of bagel. Maggie smacked her hand away without looking down.

“It’s from my mom,” Alex said. She grinned and ripped open the envelope. “It’s kind of silly. She’s always made such a fuss about Valentine’s Day. Here I am, 28 years old, and she still sends me cards.”

Lucy coughed. “Nerd.”

She was willing to bet cold, hard cash that it wasn’t Eliza that was big into the holiday.

Maggie smirked. “I always wondered who bought those. Let me see this.”

Maggie snatched it out of Alex’s hands. Alex blushed and ran her hand through her hair. Lucy sat up, coffee still cradled close, and turned her full morning’s worth of attention to Maggie.

“Daughter, thank you for being who you are. You will always be my star.” Maggie laughed. “Oh my _god_.”

“I…” Alex giggled. “Yeah, it’s kind of cheesy. I mean, Valentine’s Day’s kind of dumb, right?”

“Buck the system. Take Galentine’s back for the lesbians!” Lucy smirked. “Which reminds me, Happy Belated Galentine’s to my favorite gals, for just bein’ my pals.”

Maggie snorted and tossed the card at Lucy. “Nut.”

Maggie’s smile faded. She dropped back into her chair and brought her legs back up to curl into. “The ridiculous notion that you need a manufactured holiday to prove that you care? It just proves that people are patsies willing to throw away money on cheap chocolate and wilted roses.”

Alex’s face dropped a little, around the eyes. Her coffee couldn’t hide the disappointment.

“It makes me sick,” Maggie continued. “I hate Valentine’s Day.”

“Me, too,” Alex chuckled.

Lucy frowned and looked between the two. Alex had lost the shine that a card from her mom gave her, and Maggie had withdrawn. Alex, she could guess. Alex was a closet romantic in bloom, finally finding an outlet when the romance didn’t involve men. Maggie, Lucy wasn’t sure about. Lucy found Maggie to be quite romantic, when she wasn’t blowing open closets with the same enthusiasm Alex had for blowing up buildings.

There was a story there, and if Lucy were Lois, she’d pursue it.

But her sister was a journalist with no boundaries. Lucy was former military, and a lawyer.

She could wait until Maggie was ready.

“I knew we were right for each other, Danvers. What about you, Lane?”

“Oh, you know me. I’ll never turn down candy _or_ flowers.” Lucy grinned. “Or candy flavored pasties in the shape of flowers.”

Alex choked on her coffee.

 

* * *

 

Lucy was bored. So very, very bored. The desert base was not nearly as exciting as the city base- there were no fifth dimensional beings in the desert.

But, because it was Valentine’s Day and she was working a double as a favor, there was no Vasquez either.

Of course, when Vasquez asked three months ago, Lucy was very certain she’d be single. She had _two_ women at home tonight, with very different ideas on how to spend the Hallmark Holiday. But Vasquez had something _very_ special planned for tonight, and Lucy couldn’t bring herself to cancel without telling Vas the whole truth. Lucy figured she should probably get up the nerve to tell the Girl of Steel that she was dating Alex _and_ Maggie first.

She sighed and tossed her pile of requisitions onto her desk.

She reached for her phone and contemplated texting Maggie to check on her. Or Alex, to cheer her up. She set her phone back down.

Lucy leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her eyes. She didn’t bother to move when a gust of wind blew through her office, even at the sound of papers flying everywhere. “Hello, Kara.”

“Oh, shoot. I’ll get that.”

“No, it’s-” Lucy sat up to find her papers stacked neatly on her desk. “-fine.”

Kara, in her Supersuit, smiled awkwardly. From behind her back, she pulled out a vase full of carefully wrapped flowers. “Alex said to tell you happy belated Galentine’s?”

Lucy smiled, wide and warm. She slowly unwrapped the plastic, letting a beautiful bouquet of roses and lilies fall loose and filling her office with the scent of spring. She touched the petals gently, leaning in to sniff at the mingling scents.

“Uh, Lucy?”

“Mmm?”

“Should I… Do you want me to talk to Alex?”

Lucy shifted the vase, putting it closer to her sunlight lamp. “About what?”

“Doing stuff like this?”

“Like what?” Lucy looked up. She tilted her head, still smiling.

Supergirl shrugged, continuing to let Kara shine through. “I… I know how you feel about her, Luce.”

Lucy snorted. “You and everyone else.”

“But Alex, right?”

Lucy shrugged and looked back at her flowers.

“I just…” Kara sighed. “I don’t want to see her hurting you ever, Luce, especially not on accident.”

“She’s happy,” Lucy shrugged. “So I’m happy.”

Incredibly happy. Orgasmically happy, but she wasn’t about to tell her girlfriend’s little sister that.

“Luce. I should-I’m gonna talk to her.”

“No, Kara, it’s-” Lucy pursed her lips. The room was empty. “Fine.”

She glanced at her phone again. With any luck, the imp would keep Kara too distracted to talk to her sister.

Lucy paused.

She reached for her phone anyway. There was no reason to believe luck would be on her side today, she’d spent the last few weeks luckier than she could have dreamed possible.

 **To: Accidental Girlfriend**  
_Your sister thinks you’re leading me on. Better come clean._

She almost felt bad about throwing Alex under the bus.

Almost.

 

* * *

 

Alex showed up with an early dinner a few hours later. “I didn’t see the text until after.”

Lucy reached for the bag and dug out a greasy burger. “Do I get points for trying? Because I almost didn’t.”

Alex reached over and tried to steal the burger back. “You’re a jerk, why did I bring you dinner?”

“Because you like to see me naked.”

Alex bit her lip and ran her eyes over Lucy’s tac gear. “Right. Uniform’s not bad either.”

Lucy laughed and unwrapped her burger. She closed her eyes and savored the hot grease and salt. She may have moaned a little. She opened her eyes to find Alex staring at her, wide-eyed and hungry. She might have moaned a little loud.

Alex shook her head. To her credit, her eyes only darted back to Lucy’s lips when Lucy licked them.

“So aside from explaining to an alien that I’m dating two women, and not in a Daxamite way, thanks for that, I talked to her about what to do about Maggie.”

Lucy paused before her next bite. “You, uh, talked to the biggest romantic about a romantic holiday your other girlfriend literally called disgusting?”

“Yeah, I mean, I think we could change her mind.”

“Except I’m working tonight. Even if I weren’t, I’m not sure ambushing the Valentine’s Grinch is the way to go about it.”

“Yeah, no, totally. But, I was thinking, I might do some stuff with her tonight. And you could do some stuff with her tomorrow. And then we could do something, the three of us, this weekend. Since, you know, you and I are having dinner now.” Alex twisted her fingers and bit her lip.

“What kind of stuff do you have in mind?” Lucy asked.

“Okay, so Kara told me to think of things Maggie liked and do something that was just us.” Alex motioned to the burgers and the flowers. “No offense, but you’re pretty easy.”

“Only for you, and it took you a year to notice.” Lucy stuck her tongue out.

Alex winced. “Yeah, I got an earful about that today. I’m her sister, and she still gives a scary shovel talk.”

“I do _not_ look forward to that.”

“She won’t throw you into space. She _likes you_. I think she still has reservations about Maggie.”

“Kind of hilarious when you consider sending you to CADMUS ranks lower on her shit list than breaking your heart.”

“Yeah well, you broke me out.” Alex shrugged. “I think she’s coming around, but Maggie’s a little stiff around Supergirl, even knowing she’s my sister.”

“She’s a cop. She’s grumpy about all vigilantes.”

“True.”

Lucy wiped ketchup off her with a napkin. “What were you saying about your plans for Maggie?”

“Oh! Right. Well, when Kara asked what Maggie likes, my first thought was guns.”

“We do like guns.” Lucy nodded sagely.

“Apparently that isn’t romantic though?”

“Oh, I don’t know, her reaction to Valentine’s this morning… you could probably take her to the gun range and let her shoot at Valentine’s Day images. I bet she’d really love that.”

Alex made a face. “Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of a bonsai.”

“Ah yes, the only tree she’s tall enough to trim.”

Alex laughed and threw a balled up napkin at Lucy. “You’re even shorter!”

“I don’t keep short trees around to make me feel tall, Alex!”

“ _Anyway_. I got her a bonsai tree. I thought maybe some tiramisu, some booze, a holiday themed lapdance?”

“You can lapdance?”

“I _was_ a party girl.”

“Alex, you know you’re one of my favorite people, and you’re amazing at physical combat, but you walked into a wall yesterday.”

“Pft. I was distracted.”

“Well yeah, of course you were, I was naked.” Lucy grinned. “But _Maggie_ managed to keep from running into things.”

“She dropped her coffee.”

“You’re missing the point. You can dance, I’m just trying to picture you doing a lapdance, and I just _can’t._ ”

Alex narrowed her eyes.

Lucy kept her face innocent.

“I bet I can.”

“See, Maggie’s biased, and I won’t be there tonight.”

“I’m not recording it.”

“Then I guess I’ll never believe it.” Lucy grinned.

“This weekend. You. Me. I’ll prove it. Maggie can watch.”

“She _does_ like to watch,” Lucy purred. “Deal.”

“I walked right into that.”

“Sure did. Still gonna hold you to it.”

“I would expect nothing less of a lawyer.”

Lucy threw the napkin back at Alex. “I still think you might be going a little all out on Maggie. Maybe talk to her about it first?”

“I’d spoil the surprise!”

“You’re going to do it anyway then?”

“You don’t think it’s romantic?”

“Oh, I do.” Lucy tilted her head. “And if it were a random Tuesday in June, I’m sure Maggie will agree. I’m just… She seemed pretty serious about hating the day this morning, Alex.”

“I can change her mind.”

Lucy sighed.

Telling Alex no would just encourage her to do the exact opposite.

She shook her head and smiled. “Thank you for the flowers and dinner, Danvers.”

Alex grinned. “You like them?”

“I might regret the fact that I’m working tonight.”

Alex’s phone beeped. “I have to go get the apartment ready for Maggie.”

“Go, do what you’re gonna do.” Lucy waved. “You know where I’ll be.”

Alex reached over for a quick kiss.

Lucy reached up to wrap her hand in Alex’s hair, twisting the soft strands around her fingers and keeping her close. She dragged out the kiss, deepening it and savoring every moment.  She pulled away reluctantly. She tugged those red strands lightly. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Alex.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Lucy.”

 

* * *

 

J’onn called her in after Kara’s latest suitor destroyed three blocks downtown. Lucy was bored enough to roll with it, hopping on her bike and riding in.

“Hey, I cannot believe that you sided with that, that fast-talking nefarious twerp!”

Lucy raised her eyebrows at J’onn and turned to face the stairs. Podboy was chasing after Kara again. She leaned into J’onn’s side. “Five bucks says she hit him.”

J’onn rolled his eyes. “Gambling is illegal on federal property, Lane.”

“I did not side with him,” Kara huffed.

“You sent me away so you could have private time with your stalker!”

“As opposed to her first stalker?” Lucy asked.

J’onn snorted and crossed his arms.

Kara spun to face Mon-El, practically shaking with anger. “I sent you away so that he didn’t snap you off to Siberia, and plus, you were being _out_ of _control_!”

Kara turned away from him and headed towards them. Kara was frowning, her “crinkle” deep and her hands twisting at each other.

Lucy pushed off from where she leaned against the table and crossed her arms.

J’onn glanced between Lucy and the Podboy.

“Oh! I’m sorry that I was busy, uh, _defending your honor_.”

Kara spun around again, her voice getting louder. She inched closer, stepping into his face. “I’m _not_ some damsel in distress. I’m Supergirl! I can defend myself, and _more_ importantly, I told you I was handling it.”

“Well, Kara,” he scoffed. “Sometimes you’re not a good judge of what you can handle.”

J’onn’s arms flexed.

“Really?” Kara asked.

“Yep.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell me the secret to getting him off Earth was to get him to say his name backwards, because you didn’t think I could handle it?”

Lucy frowned. She looked over at J’onn. “Beetlejuice?”

“No.” Mon-El pointed at Kara, one hand on his hip. “I didn’t tell you that because it never works! First of all, it’s hard enough to say it _forward_ , and second of all, that guy is a motor-mouth, but he’s not stupid.”

“You should have told me,” Kara hissed. She turned to walk away again.

He followed. Again.

“You are so hard on me Kara. Okay, but why not him?”

Lucy’s jaw clenched. “Oh, _hell_ no.”

“Five bucks says _you_ hit him,” said J’onn.

“I can control myself, J’onn.”

“I mean, that guy… hey, hey!”

Kara turned, completely exasperated. “ _What?_ God!”

“He conjured up a supervillain and set it loose on National City. Did you give him an earful? No… no, no, no. Because Mxy snaps his fingers, and there’s flowers in your loft. And he snaps your fingers, and you’re in Vera Wang…”

Kara laughed, “Oh, my _god_!”

“What?” Mon-El demanded.

“You’re jealous.”

“I’m… that’s ridiculous.”

“Oh is it?” Kara asked, still laughing.

Lucy and J’onn shared a look.

“You know what, Kara? I knew that you were a little full of yourself, like a little bit. But this is off the charts.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not jealous. Okay, I’m angry, because you have an unfair double standard.”

Lucy took a deep breath. In her best courtroom voice, she projected. “That is _enough_.”

Kara and Mon-El startled.

Lucy took the chance, moving to stand between Kara and Mon-El the same way she’d done months ago with J’onn and Clark. She put both hands on the Daxamite’s chest and pushed. He didn’t move, but that didn’t stop her from doing it again, and again, until he took the hint and stepped away from Kara.

“This is a _government paramilitary organization_ . If you can’t conduct yourself accordingly, you can get the hell out, the both of you. But especially _you_.”

“Me?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes. You. You’ve spent months doing the same thing this nutjob neckbeard has been doing- playing nice guy, trying to win her over, and spinning it around the moment there’s competition or you don’t get what you want, and becoming the asshole you’ve been since the start.”

“Hey-”

“I am _not_ done, fratboy. I knew plenty of guys in college, and in the service, _just like you_ . You need to stop blaming _her_ for your insecurities and start trying to _actually_ be a better person, rather than faking it to get into her pants. I guarantee actual efforts you fail at will go farther than these half-assed attempts to protect the one woman on the planet _who doesn’t need it_.”

“Kara, call off your guard dog.”

“No. You know what, Mon-El? She’s right. I thought you’d changed. But you’re still the same macho…”

“Oh, here it is,” he said. He tried to step around Lucy, but every step he took, she took first. “Say it!”

He set his hands on his waist, and Lucy wanted to laugh. No one did that pose better than Alex.

“Egotistical-”

“Daxamite?” he taunted.

“Yes!”

Lucy pushed at his chest again, now uncomfortably sandwiched between two solar powered offworlders.

“As you’ve always been,” Kara continued. “This was a mistake, you and me.”

“Agreed.”

“Obviously,” Lucy said. “Mon-El, get out. Go cool off, go find a new girl to pine over, go do whatever you want, just go do it elsewhere.”

Lucy turned her head. “Kara? Go punch some concrete. When you calm down, we’ll discuss what the DEO _as an organization_ is going to do about Pixie Stix.”

They didn’t move for a moment, still staring at each other over her head.

“ _Now_ ,” Lucy growled.

Mon-El left with a huff. Kara stomped off in the other direction.

Lucy dropped her shoulders and headed back to her spot beside J’onn. She leaned heavily against the table. “I didn’t come here to babysit.”

J’onn handed her a five.

“I hate you,” she said.

She tucked the five into a pocket anyway.

 

* * *

 

She was dozing on and off in J’onn’s office, power napping. Her eyes shot open at a quiet knock on the door frame.

“Hey, uh, sorry, Lane.”

Lucy yawned. “Who kicked your puppy, Sawyer?”

“Uh, Kara read me the riot act on Alex’s feelings about Valentine’s Day.”

“She shouldn’t have done that.”

Maggie shook her head. “No, I… I was an idiot last night-”

“Whatever reason you have for hating the holiday is valid, Maggie.”

“She… she didn’t tell you?”

“Sit down, Maggie.” Lucy rubbed her eyes. “Look, I really like you, and I like to think you like me too.”

“I do!”

“But we aren’t where you and Alex are, not yet.” Lucy smiled softly. “I absolutely believe we will be. But whatever you tell Alex, you don’t have to tell me until you’re ready. Or ever. That’s all on you, okay, and whenever you’re ready.”

Maggie pursed her lips. “Alex is pushier.”

“Alex is a steamroller.” Lucy shrugged. “Plus, you should talk to _someone_ , I’m just saying it doesn’t need to be me, not unless you want it to be.”

Maggie nodded. “One day.”

“One day,” Lucy agreed.

“Have you seen Alex, though? She, uh, wasn’t in her apartment this morning.”

“I haven’t seen her, but I’ve been dealing with Mr. Pixy Stix.” Lucy reached for Maggie’s hand. “Just do me a favor, and make sure you listen to each other, huh? For real this time.”

Maggie grinned. “Promise, if I can find her.”

“And don’t do all the apologizing, either. She should have listened to you, too.”

Maggie paused.

“I’m serious, Maggie. Alex was excited to celebrate the holiday, but you were _very_ clear about not wanting to. She could have talked to you, or let me drag her out tonight for a late celebration and let you get some rest or something. There’s a million other ways yesterday could have gone.”

Maggie nodded. “You’re not mad at me for not wanting to celebrate it?”

“Me? Pft. Army, remember? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been in the States for _any_ holiday. I like any excuse to cuddle, but I don’t need a holiday to do it. Besides, my favorite holiday comes around at _least_ three times a year.”

Maggie tilted her head. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“Half-Off Candy Day.”

Maggie laughed.

Lucy was glad to see some of the weight slide off her shoulders. “It’s obviously the superior holiday, that’s why it occurs more than once.”

“Obviously.”

“Plus, you know, _candy_.”

“I thought you were my ally.”

“I like to be hot. I can be hot _and_ eat my fill on Half-Off Candy Day.”

“This is true. You might even be hot _while eating_ your half-off candy.”

“You bet your boxers I am.”

Maggie threw back her head and laughed. “I knew I liked you for a reason, Lane.”

“Same, Sawyer, same.”

Lucy yawned again.

“What time are you off today?”

“Mmm. Six or so.”

“Assuming Alex and I make up-”

“You will.”

“-do you want to do something tonight? Like a movie night in maybe?” Maggie asked. “I’d understand if you just want to go home and sleep.”

Lucy closed her eyes in thought. She waited a moment. “Tell you what… you, go make up with Alex. Go apologize- _after she does_ \- and do whatever you guys are doing for the rest of the day. Then come back to Alex’s. I have an idea.”

“You’re exhausted, Luce.”

“Oh, I will absolutely fall asleep on you at some point tonight.” Lucy grinned. “One of you might need to carry me home, even.”

Maggie snorted.

“But, I want to celebrate my favorite holiday, and the only people who should hate it are diabetics. You’re not a secret diabetic are you?”

“No, Luce. Sugar’s fine.”

“Good to know.” Lucy smirked, slow and purposeful, as she held Maggie’s eyes. “Good to know.”

Maggie smirked back. “I’m going to find Alex. You try to find time to catch a nap, hmm?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll make J’onn answer the phone from Alpha for an hour or so,” Lucy laughed. “Tell Alex I said hello.”

“I will.” Maggie leaned over the desk and kissed Lucy quickly on the lips.

Much like she had with Alex the night before, Lucy dug her fingers in those dark waves and dragged Maggie back for a much deeper, much less work-appropriate kiss. Maggie pulled away and swallowed harshly. She licked her lips and Lucy mimicked her.

Maggie’s brown eyes were blown wide. “That wasn’t fair, Lane.”

“That was a _preview_.”

“Not if you fall asleep.”

Lucy laughed. “Guess you’ll just have to keep me awake, huh?”

 

* * *

 

The path to hell was paved with good intentions. Lucy arrived back at Alex’s earlier than the other two, and very much intended to set up a surprise.

And then she sat down.

Lights out for Lucy.

She didn’t even remember being moved from the couch, or which one of her girls helped.

She woke in her comfiest pjs, buried in the comforter and dead center in the bed. Alone, unfortunately, but she could hear the quiet murmur of Alex’s affair with coffee, and the crunch of Maggie’s triple-cooked bread breakfast.

It took a few minutes longer than she’d like to admit to wriggle free.

Maggie spotted her first. “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

Lucy reached up and ran a hand through her crazy morning hair. She shuffled towards the table, nearly tripping over Maggie’s shoes, discarded on the floor. Alex stood up and got another cup of coffee ready, and had it waiting by the time Lucy made it to the table.

“Morning, coverhog,” said Alex.

She pressed a kiss to Lucy’s temple. Lucy leaned into it, closing her eyes and blindly reaching for her coffee. “Mmph.”

“We wake you, Lane?”

Lucy shook her head and dropped it to Alex’s shoulder.

Alex chuckled. “Sleep well, at least?”

“I was s’posed to surprise you guys.”

“You needed sleep more,” said Maggie. “Besides, Alex and I have a surprise for _you_ today.”

Lucy frowned. “You guys didn’t have to do anything for me.”

Alex nudged her. “Yeah we did. Finish your coffee and get dressed, unless you want to go out in a blindfold with _that_ hair.”

“Shut up, Danvers, your hair was worse when it was short.”

“Why do you think I’ve been waiting to cut it.”

“Because Maggie complimented the curls?” Lucy asked innocently.

Alex blushed.

“Aw, Danvers, you going soft on me?”

“I should kill you both.”

“Buuut you woooon’t,” Lucy sang. “Because Agent Badass is a big ol’ softy.”

Alex shoved Lucy, nearly spilling Lucy’s coffee. “Get dressed.”

 

* * *

 

They weren’t kidding about the blindfold, but it wasn’t much different than letting Alex lead her around when she had a migraine. Alex’s grip on her hand was steady, and Maggie’s light touch on Lucy’s back kept her grounded.

Wherever they were leading her, it smelled of outdoors and sounded like a park. In a place the size of National City, that didn’t narrow it down much.

“Step up, Luce,” Maggie said. “Another step.”

Lucy felt around with her foot. She seemed to be on flat ground, and Maggie and Alex had come to a stop. “Are we here? Can I take off the blindfold?”

Alex laughed and reached up with her free hand to tug away the scarf. “Surprise!”

Lucy’s jaw dropped. They’d decorated a small gazebo with Valentine’s day decorations and half-off signs. A little table was piled high with all sorts of red and pink boxes, many of them heart-shaped and bearing 50% off tags.

Maggie reached for her other hand and squeezed. “Is… is this okay?”

“This is _amazing_.”

Alex scrunched her nose. “I can’t believe this is your favorite holiday.”

“Half-Off Candy Day is so amazing it’s more than once a year, what’s not to love?” Lucy squeezed their hands. “You guys- I… You didn’t have to do this.”

“We kind of did,” Maggie disagreed. “You’ve been our mediator for _months_ , Luce. When Alex and I talked yesterday, we made sure to listen to each other.”

“And that’s when we realized it wasn’t just the two of us we weren’t listening to,” Alex added. “We might not be here without you, and I definitely don’t want to imagine a future where it’s just the two of us because we let you go. Not now that I know how good the three of us are together.”

“Not now, not ever,” Maggie nodded.

Lucy swallowed and looked up at the roof. She blinked away the tears threatening to fall. “Guys-”

Two sets of arms wrapped around her and squeezed her tight.

“We’re listening, Luce,” said Alex. She tucked her head overtop of Lucy’s head.

Maggie tucked hers into Lucy’s neck, placing soft kisses on the softer skin. “What do you need?”’

“Us to celebrate the next Half-Off Day?”

“Every one of them,” said Alex.

Maggie nodded and pulled away. She jerked her head towards the pile of boxes. “Enough mushy stuff, let’s get to the good stuff.”

Lucy laughed and nearly got hit in the face with a discounted box of Godiva. “Jesus, how much did you spend?”

“Half as much as we would have,” Alex grinned.

Lucy shook her head. Her girls were something else.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come say hi [@bathtimefunduck](bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com) and tell me what you liked. Or what you hated, I'm game.


	14. Episode 14: Full Twisting Bullet Drop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremiah comes home and Lucy discovers a loophole in the protocols.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: all this time I did not realize that triplicate was canon. Whoops. 
> 
> Mad props to [@letswreakhavoc](Http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for bouncing ideas with me, [@salamadersaurus-rex](Http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for the beta work, and [@freakykaethe](Http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the amazing gifwork! Y'all should drop a line and tell them how awesome they are. 
> 
> And thanks to you guys the readers, of course!
> 
> *no thanks to Muffin, who keeps trying to type and/or shove my computer out of my lap.

**Episode 14: Full Twisting Bullet Drop**

 

“How is James coming along in his training, Major Lane?”

“Much better, J’onn. Even Winn is showing decent improvement in his hand-to-hand.”

“Winn?” Alex laughed.

“Yes, Winn.” Lucy snorted. “Better come up with a new way to threaten him, Danvers. One of these days he might surprise you.”

“I’ll believe that when I see-”

“Hey, everybody! Uh, quick thing!”

The three turn to watch the trainwreck that was Kara’s latest relationship enter the building.

Mon-El grinned widely. “Kara and I are dating, and yes, it is awesome.”

Kara, in her defense, looked furious. Well, maybe. Her face looked like it often did around Mon-El, and Lucy was beginning to forget what Kara’s _not_ -pissed face looked like.

Lucy and J’onn crossed their arms. Alex put her hands on her waist and tilted her chin up, waiting for the idiot to continue.

He put on a good show, looking every bit the Tuesday night cable comedy tool. “Yes, we are very happy.”

Except for the look on Kara’s face.

“And your jealousy-” he pointed around. “ _-is_ appropriate. You can carry on now, thank you. Sorry.”

Podboy looked anything but sorry. Lucy tilted her head. She glanced from Kara to her sister. “You see what you did, Danvers?”

Alex winced.

J’onn looked less than pleased. “Director Lane, as head of this org-”

“Oh, _hell_ no. Your site, your problem.”

J’onn frowned.

Kara put her hands on her hips and looked down. “Ten. Seconds.”

“Yeah,” Podboy grinned. “I thought that was…”

“You lasted… We just walked in! It was _ten seconds_.”

“That sounds unfortunate for her,” Lucy muttered.

“ _Major Lane_.”

Alex snickered.

Lucy refused to give into the dad voice and remained unrepentant.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Podboy said.

“ _Very_ unfortunate,” Lucy added.

“ _LUCY_ ,” Alex hissed.

Lucy smirked and looked back to Kara. The boytoy looked vaguely apologetic.

“I mean, back on Daxam, they used to throw parties when people got together. You’re lucky I didn’t arrange a parade.”

“Ha ha!”

“I’m just saying,” he said.

Kara grimaced as she and the alien frat bro finally reached her disapproving family. “Can we just… pretend like that never happened?”

“I’d like nothing more,” J’onn grumped. “But unfortunately, as your supervisor, I have to ask you to report to HR.”

Kara giggled. When J’onn’s face didn’t change, she straightened up. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Kara, you’re dating a co-worker.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “You’re already skirting the regs against dating someone in your direct command.”

“That’s not… Wait, we have an HR?”

Lucy paused. She glanced at Alex, then back to Kara. “Pam?”

“The food money lady?” Kara asked.

“Please call her that to her face in my presence, I’m begging you,” said Lucy.

“Walk your puppy down to the second floor and fill out all the forms Pam gives you in triplicate,”  J’onn ordered. He walked away, shaking his head. “And make sure he doesn’t pee on the floor.”

“Oh,” Alex grinned. “You’re gonna have to attend a mandatory sexual harassment seminar, too.”

Alex looked quite gleeful and began to make her exit.

“Oh, so, did you and Lucy want to join us or have you already done that?”

Alex tripped over air on her way out.

Lucy raised her eyebrows and stared down her girlfriend’s little sister. “Well played, Baby Danvers. Well played.”

Mon-El looked between them. “Wait, why would they join us? Daxam’s more the merrier, but I was under the impression that mated Earthlings like Alex would need permission from their mate to join us?”

Lucy wrinkled her nose.

Kara recoiled entirely, smacking Mon-El. “Ew! Seriously? That’s my _sister_!”

“Not by blood,” he shrugged.

Kara wagged a finger in his face. “ _No_.”

“Better leash your boy,” Lucy offered. “Wouldn’t want him sent to the _pound_.”

“It’s going to be a rough sparring session for me today isn’t it?” he asked.

Kara’s jaw clenched.

“I’m just gonna go get ready then, yeah?” He retreated quickly, tail between his legs.

“Bad dog,” Lucy muttered.

“Would you stop that?”

“No.”

“Holy CADMUS cream egg,” said Winn.

Lucy frowned and walked over to Winn’s station, with Kara on her heels. “Schott? What did you find?”

“CADMUS has been dark since Lillian broke out of prison…” Kara muttered.

“Uh, well, they are back and with a vengeance. We’ve got a large convy coming from one of their suspected weapon storage facilities.”

Lucy tilted her head. “Kara-”

“Tell Alex and Mon-El to set up a back-up team.”

“I’d rather you didn’t go in blind and _alone_ , Kara, they have Kryptonite.”

“And I don’t want to lose them,” Kara said. She spun on her heel, already ripping off her clothes.

Lucy reached up to tap her comms. “J’onn, Alex. Get Trap on the move, Supergirl’s headed after a CADMUS convoy.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy spends nearly an hour standing as close to Alex as she could allow herself to at work. Alex had been vibrating energy ever since their comms had crackled to life, cancelling the request for back-up and announcing what Supergirl and J’onn had found.

Or rather _who_ they’d found.

Lucy’s fingers twitched, grazing Alex’s the next time she passed near enough.

And then Alex sprinted away. Lucy turned around in time to see her girlfriend skid to a halt. Alex froze and stared.

“They told me but I didn’t believe it.” Alex swallowed and took another moment.

And then she was running again, into her father’s arms. Jeremiah detached himself from Kara’s shoulder to welcome her.

“Alex. My Alex. Ow.” He laughed and pulled Kara into the hug.

Lucy let herself smile a little. She was happy for the Danvers’, even if something like unease was tickling the back of her mind.

Alex took her father’s weight, refusing to let him go. The agents nearby began a slow clap, welcoming him home. Alex tucked her face into Jeremiah’s shoulder and slowly led him to medical.

J’onn paused beside Lucy. “He wouldn’t accept a stretcher.”

“Of course not. Where do you think Alex gets it?”

J’onn snorted. “Come along, Major Lane. He should meet the other Director, and we should get his story.”

Lucy nodded and began to walk with him. “Yeah. His story. Any idea why they moved him in a tractor trailer? It would have been more discrete to move him in a van or an SUV rather than a big convoy.”

“Perhaps they expected us to hold off because it looked like a trap.”

Lucy hummed noncommittally. “I assume Alex and Kara will be taking some time off?”

“Have you met them?” J’onn scoffed.

Lucy snickered quietly as she followed him into Alex’s favorite medbay. Alex had Jeremiah on a stretcher, tending to his obvious wounds herself, and breaking all medical protocols. Hamilton hovered outside the room, but it seemed even she didn’t have the heart to call Alex on it.

“They forced me to keep him alive, to enhance him. Physically turn him into the monster he was beneath,” said Jeremiah. He looked to J’onn, who leaned nearby. “It is strange, seeing you in Henshaw’s skin.”

“I hope I’ve put it to good use.”

“Better than he ever did,” Jeremiah laughed.

Lucy made her way quietly to stand behind Alex. Alex, whose head was bent, diligently stitching up her father.

“But what happened after that?” Supergirl asked. “You were gone for such a long time.”

Alex sat heavily on her stool, rolling it back just far enough to make contact with Lucy.

“I guess I did too good a job enhancing Henshaw, ‘cause CADMUS wanted me to stick around, help ‘em with other projects.” He looked down. “In the beginning I tried to escape again and again. But… well, let’s just say they didn’t appreciate that very much.”

Alex sighed. “Oh, Dad. I…”

“It’s okay, by… by working with them, I was helping to keep you and your sister safe.”

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat, her breath catching. She cleared her throat. “We’ll need to debrief you on those other projects, sir. When you’re up for it, of course.”

“Of course,” Jeremiah nodded. “And you are?”

“This is Major Lucy Lane, Co-Director of the DEO. She manages the desert prison and liaises with Washington,” said Alex. “And she’s my best friend.”

“I do not envy you your job, Major.”

“The smart ones never do,” Lucy said, offering a tight smile.

The door opened. Kara’s boyfriend burst in, not bothering to knock. “I came as soon as I heard.”

“Mon-El of Daxam. We meet again,” said Jeremiah.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried after you let us out that CADMUS was gonna…” Mon-El paused.

“CADMUS would imprison and torture me for betraying them?” Jeremiah grimaced. He offered a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, well, you’d be right.”

Alex ducked her head.

Lucy’s hand twitched again.

“Dad, uh… the damage to your hand is… it’s extensive.”

Lucy itched to touch Alex’s shoulder, to kiss her forehead, to even just brush up against her. But they weren’t out at work, and Alex wasn’t out to her father.

“It’s a punishment for helping Mon-El and Kara escape,” Jeremiah admitted.

Supergirl’s head dropped too.

“But I would do it again, in a heartbeat. I’m so lucky you found me.” He reached out his good hand. “I’m so lucky to be back with you two.”

Alex grabbed his hand, tearing up. Supergirl reached for her foster father’s knee and squeezed gently.

“Well, it’s more than luck,” said Mon-El.

Lucy’s head snapped up.

J’onn stood with a frown. “What do you mean?”

“We got an alert that CADMUS was moving a weapon,” Mon-El shrugged. “We don’t get alerts unless they’re releasing a video, or we catch them red-handed.”

“But we _did_ catch them red-handed,” said Supergirl.

“Though…” Mon-El paused. “No, they were waving their red hands round in the air… literally like they just didn’t care.”

He even waved his hands for emphasis.

Lucy stomach sank at the realization that she and the walking embodiment of human-presenting white male privilege were having the same thoughts.

“No…” Kara said.

“No, Mon-El is right,” Jeremiah agreed. “You need to keep your guard up. ’Cause CADMUS does have a weapon.”

“What is it?” Lucy asked.

Jeremiah sighed. “A nuclear fusion bomb.”

J’onn and Supergirl exchanged looks with Lucy.

“They’re going to destroy National City and blame it on hostile aliens,” Jeremiah said.

“How did CADMUS get their hands on it?” Lucy asked. “Military funding was cut a year ago- and there were no records of them having that kind of hardware, trust me, I checked.”

“They built it,” he said. “Using the radiation they mined from Kara’s heat vision,” he looked at Supergirl. “When you were in their custody.”

Lucy cursed.

“Oh my God,” Supergirl whispered.

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m sorry, Director Lane, but there isn’t a protocol for agents returning from captivity after more than a decade,” said Pam. She flipped through a few more pages of the massive manual. “Best we have is two weeks.”

“We have protocol for _everything_.”

“Now if that were true, this wouldn’t be the fifteenth edition this year,” Pam snorted. “We can hold him to the physical and mental exams. By all rights, we should be able to force him onto mandatory leave, except he was declared dead.”

“That means he can’t come back to work until that’s cleaned up, right?”

Pam winced.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Lucy muttered. “We have protocol for agents that come back from the dead, but not those rescued beyond two weeks?”

“To be fair, they’re much more likely to be dead at that point.”

“You’re not helping, Pam.”

“You could issue a directive.”

“You know damn well I can’t.”

“Do I?” Pam asked blithely. “I’ve received no paperwork that would indicate that.”

Lucy stared down her head of HR. “You’ve received all relevant paperwork so far.”

“Oh, I’ve never received all relevant paperwork. There isn’t an agent here without at least one citation for it.”

Lucy looked around. “Is that why you moved here? More filing cabinets?”

“Less whining about bats, too.”

Lucy snorted. “Kara needs to realize Vlad’s adopted her and get over it.”

Pam threw her head back and laughed.

Lucy stood and stretched. “Oh, hey did Kara and Mon-El come down here yet?”

“No. But with the eldest Danvers’ return, I’ll give her a day or two before I press the matter.” Pam tapped her pen on the desk. “When will I see you and Alex down here?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Pam.”

“You can’t bullshit a bullshiter, kid.”

“Let’s get the Danvers’ settled before we come up with more protocols,” Lucy sighed. “Unless you’re fixing to tell me we have forms for polyamorous next of kin and medical proxy.”

Pam dropped her pen.

“Also, don’t tell Vas.”

“What-”

“I know about the pool. No starting a bet on when we’re coming out.”

“I would never- that would be in grave violation of HR ethics.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lucy hummed. “That’s why Vas places your bets, right?”

“Don’t make me come over there, Director.”

Lucy grinned and ducked out of the office. Nothing was solved, but at least she had the pleasure of Pam’s entertainment.

 

* * *

 

 

Alex caught Lucy on her way out. “Hey, hold up!”

Lucy paused for Alex to catch up, not that it took long. The happiness radiating from Alex added an extra bounce to her step, those long legs closing the distance quickly. “What’s up, Danvers?”

“Dinner, tonight.”

“Aren’t you guys doing a family reunion thing?”

“Yes. That’s why I want you there.” Alex tucked a stray hair behind Lucy’s ear. “You’re my family, Lucy.”

“Alex, I don’t-”

“Hey, if this is about telling everyone, we don’t have to. I mean, I want to, the moment you’re ready. I want to shout to the world that I have two amazing women giving me a chance-”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Danvers.”

“But _only when you’re ready_ ,” Alex shrugged. “Maggie’s cool with meeting the parents, and this way, you know, you can meet them with a little less pressure. But _we found my dad, Luce_. I want to celebrate that with everyone I care about. And, you know, J’onn’s coming too, so you won’t be the only one going stag.”

Lucy took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened them to the Danvers Pout™. “Put that away, Alex, we’re at work.”

“Please say you’ll come?”

“Alex, I just-”

“Maggie’s picking up tequila.”

Lucy snorted. “You know that’s not my drink of choice.”

“Yeah, but you like it better than water, and you won’t have to spend the night sober if you don’t want to.”

“I think I want to make a better impression on your parents than drunk daughter of a xenophobe, thanks.”

“Pft.” Alex waved her hand. “My mother loves you. She thought we were dating, remember? Even went so far to tell me she approved.”

Lucy bit her lip. “She did?”

“Mm-hmm. And I doubt finding out about the three of us will change that. She adores you.”

“Your mom’s pretty awesome, Danvers.”

“Of course she is, she made me,” said Alex.

“ _Pft.”_

“So you’ll come?”

Lucy sighed. “You don’t think your parents will mind?”

“My parents would love to have you, Luce. But I want you there to show you off… even if it’s just as my best friend. You’re amazing, Luce.”

“Fine, you big brownnoser. I’ll come.”

“Yes!” Alex cheered. Ignoring the agents milling around, she picked Lucy up and swung her around. “Mom’s cooking, and it’s at Kara’s at 7 okay?”

Lucy raised her eyebrows. “She’s using _Kara’s_ oven?”

Alex grinned and tucked her hands into her back pockets. “Kara’s eyeballs, probably.”

“That’s so weird.”

“But tasty.”

Lucy sighed again. “Fine, Danvers. I’ll be there. Is there even room at Kara’s table?”

“We made it with more for Thanksgiving. Stop trying to back out.”

“You owe me big, Danvers.”

“A debt I am _very_ willing to repay,” Alex smirked.

Lucy shook her head and walked away. She dug her phone out of her pocket and texted Maggie. She’d need more than tequila to make it through this.

 

* * *

 

 

Maggie was waiting for her in Kara’s lobby, two brown paper bags in hand. “You’re an expensive date, Lane.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“Your money’s no good here.”

“Betcha my tongue is.”

Maggie grinned and stepped into Lucy’s space. What started as a quick peck turned into something far deeper. Lucy nipped and sucked at Maggie’s lips and tongue, kissing until they were both out of breath.

Maggie stepped back and inhaled. “Jesus, Lane, miss me?”

“Yes.”

“Aw, I missed you, too.” Maggie stuck the bag with the bourbon in Lucy’s arms. “I’m glad you came, you know.”

“They’re gonna love you.”

“I mean, Eliza’s great. But Jeremiah.”

“Yeah.” Lucy let out a frustrated breath. “Jeremiah.”

“Hey, you okay? If this is too much, I can explain to Al-”

“No, this is fine.” Lucy waved her free hand about before reaching for the stair rail. “It’s the whole thing, really. They basically pointed a spot light at him for us to find, and now there’s a bomb, and I can’t help but think this is just a distraction for something bigger.”

Maggie knocked shoulders with Lucy. “Hey, whatever happens, we’ll face it together, just like we’re doing now. El Mayarah, or whatever.”

Lucy snickered. “Your accent is horrible.”

“So’s your Spanish.”

They reached Kara’s door and paused.

Lucy reached up with a shaking fist.

Maggie smiled. “Hey, we got this.”

Lucy nodded. She pasted on her best smile and knocked three times.

Kara opened the door.

“Hey, we heard there was a party,” said Maggie.

“Come on in,” Kara grinned.

Alex spun at Maggie’s voice. “Hey! Um, come in.”

Alex gave Lucy a tight hug. She put her hands on Maggie’s shoulders, glancing between them both before awkwardly kissing Maggie’s cheek. She slid in between the two, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders and leading them towards her dad.

Eliza was right behind her, reaching first for Maggie. “Hey, sweetie.” Eliza squeezed Maggie before giving Lucy the same treatment. “Lucy! I’m so glad you came.”

Lucy couldn’t help but grin at Eliza’s enthusiasm.

Alex twisted her hands. She ran them down her thighs and looked over at Jeremiah. “Dad, uh, you remember Lucy, right? Well, uh, this is… this is my girlfriend, Maggie.”

Lucy could see Jeremiah’s brain stutter at the introduction. His smile became a little more forced, and he paused before he spoke. “Things have changed.”

Lucy fingernails dug into her palm. It was Eliza’s hands that discreetly pulled her fingers away, holding it tightly.

Alex and Maggie shared an awkward smile.

Jeremiah stared at his daughter’s girlfriend. “There is no man on Earth good enough for Alex Danvers. So it would have to be someone like you.”

Lucy’s hand twitched in Eliza’s grasp. Her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, flattery,” Maggie laughed. She raised her eyebrows and glanced at Lucy before looking back at him. “And you’re right, Alex deserves nothing but the best.”

Maggie handed over the bottle she was carrying.

“Oh! And you brought… Tequila.” He shrugged. “Okay, she’s family.”

Alex grinned. “Lucy brought bourbon, too, just in case.”

Lucy held up her bag and wiggled it. “Some of us like it on the rocks, Danvers.”

“Even better!” Jeremiah grinned.

“Alex surrounds herself with the best,” Eliza grinned.

Lucy tried very hard not to flush under her praise.

Jeremiah held the tequila out to Eliza. “You want to show the kids how it’s done?”

“Let’s do it,” She said. She squeezed Lucy’s hand one last time before grabbing the bourbon from Lucy and the tequila from her husband.

“Alright,” said Jeremiah.

Alex let out a deep breath and nudged Maggie forward. She reached for Lucy’s hand and tugged her that way too, sending them both to the living room while Kara waylaid her.

Lucy took the end of the small couch, with Maggie snugly fitting at her side. Lucy began tapping her foot, hands balled in her lap. Maggie reached over and ran a comforting hand along Lucy’s thigh.

“Maggie,” Lucy hissed.

“Calm down, Lane. I think that went well.”

“That went _weird_.”

“The man last saw Alex in middle school, chill. It could have been worse.”

Lucy glanced at Maggie, who wasn’t looking at her. They still hadn’t discussed why Maggie was so vehemently against Valentine’s day, but Lucy had a feeling it might have something to do with “worse.”

Alex joined them, dropping into the seat on Maggie’s other side. She pouted. “I wanted the middle.”

“You got the middle last night,” Lucy replied blithely.

Maggie snickered and squeezed Lucy’s knee.

“You two are the worst,” Alex said.

Kara and her boyfriend arranged themselves on the floor next to them. Lucy nodded tersely at the fratboy. Alex and Maggie both said hello.

“Hey, ladies. Major Lane, uh, I’m surprised to see you here.”

Kara raised her eyebrows and stared at Lucy.

Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Here, it’s Lucy, okay, Po… Mon-El?”

“Lucy, got it.” He grinned. “So, what brings you?”

“Alex insisted.”

“Oh that’s wonderful, I was telling Kara this morning that, on Daxam, it was customary to celebrate when people came together. It seems we have much to celebrate today.”

Lucy’s eyes widened.

So did Kara’s.

Alex cleared her throat. “Yes, we’re celebrating _my dad_ today.”

Maggie laughed. “I heard you had the whole DEO celebrating you getting together this morning.”

“Kids, Drinks are ready,” Jeremiah called.

Lucy was unsurprised when Alex practically jumped out of her seat saying “I’m ready.”

Maggie dragged Lucy off of the couch, slowly dropping her hand as they approached the table. Mon-El and Kara lingered behind for a moment.

Kara and Alex gave Jeremiah a hand pouring the drinks and handing them along. Lucy made herself as small as possible as the others crowded around. Eliza poured Lucy a small glass of bourbon on the rocks, handing it over with a wink.

“Sorry I’m late,” J’onn called out.

Lucy let her shoulders drop.

“Don’t be silly, J’onn!” Jeremiah reached for his friend with his good hand. “Oh, hey! I forgot to do something earlier.”

Lucy expected him to hit J’onn, honestly. For recruiting Alex, for letting Kara run around in a miniskirt, for any number of things. She was just as surprised as J’onn was when Jeremiah reached in for a hug.

“Thank you,” Jeremiah said. “Thank you for saving my life again. Thank you for keeping your promise to watch over my girls.”

“It was an honor,” J’onn said.

“A toast!” Kara lifted her glass. “To coming home.”

“To coming home,” they chorused, clinking glasses.

Jeremiah didn’t take a sip, but he waited until everyone else had. “Now, obviously, this is going to be a time of adjustment. But I hope you’ll all be patient with me.”

Lucy’s glass was emptying quickly.

“I’ve seen and done things that I wish I hadn’t.”

“Dad, don’t,” Alex interrupted, shaking her head.

Maggie crossed her arms. Lucy followed suit, if only to give herself a reason to put her glass down.

“No, sweetie. If I’m going to move forward, I can’t ignore my past.” Jeremiah paused. “CADMUS… changed me. They tried to break me. But in the process, they made me dangerous.”

Lucy’s fingers twitched for her glass.

“I know their weaknesses, and I’m here… to work with all of you to make our planet safer. So if you’ll have me, Director, I’d like to return to the DEO. Formally.”

“J’onn? Can he?” Kara asked.

Her boyfriend took a large swallow of margarita.

J’onn glanced over at Lucy.

She forced a smile. “I told you, J’onn. Your site, your decision.”

J’onn shrugged. “Pending a full psych evaluation and a field readiness exam… We’ll give you the tour tomorrow.”

Lucy dug her nails into her arms. She glanced over at Mon-El, who was frowning.

“Thank you, friend,” said Jeremiah.

J’onn moved around to give Eliza a hug, while Mon-El leaned into Kara.

“I’m in the DEO for two months before I can pee alone,” Mon-El hissed, “And he walks right back in?”

“Say something nice to him,” Kara ordered. “Now.”

Mon-El cleared his throat. “I just wish you were coming back at a time of peace, sir.”

Alex moved to lean against her father’s side.

“We all do,” Kara agreed.

Mon-El looked into his glass. “What a lucky thing that you have returned when you did.”

Alex bristled. “You mean when he was rescued, right, Mon-El?”

“Um…”

All eyes were on Mon-El. Maggie and Lucy took the chance to slide closer to Alex, Maggie at her side, Lucy just behind. Lucy reached forward and wrapped her fingers around the hem of Alex’s shirt.

“I mean, that it is very fortunate that Dr. Danvers has returned just as a fusion bomb has become a threat.”

Kara’s jaw tightened and she leaned away from her boyfriend.

“A fusion bomb that only he’s mentioned,” Mon-El continued. “And no one else has seen. I mean, what a gift.”

Alex stepped forward, her sweater pulling tight in Lucy’s hand. “What did you just say to my father?”

“And now,” Mon-El said. “He’s just gonna go right back to the DEO. With full access, I’m guessing, right, J’onn? No background checks.”

Alex tried to tug out of Lucy’s grasp. She pointed at Mon-El. “You need to back up.”

“Why don’t you just let him right back in?” Mon-El taunted.

Kara wrapped her arm around Mon-El and dragged him towards her bedroom.

Maggie tugged at Alex’s arm. “Hey, calm down, okay?”

Maggie ran her hand up and down Alex’s bicep while Lucy’s hand relaxed from where it was twisted in soft cotton. Lucy scratched her nails up and down Alex’s spine and let Maggie whisper her down.

Eliza raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at Lucy’s hand.

Lucy didn’t stop, not as Alex was just now beginning to relax, but she did look away.

She might have her own fears about what Jeremiah’s return meant, but she was smart enough to keep them to herself.

Gentle tugs and prodding led Alex around the table and to the kitchen, where she crossed her arms and watched her father disappear after Kara and Mon-El. Eliza drew her into a conversation about the lab, eventually catching most of her attention.

J’onn eyed Lucy. She shrugged and did her best to keep her thoughts to herself. She was a lawyer after all, and Jeremiah was innocent until proven guilty.

She and Maggie were deep in a discussion about the Science Division’s latest DEO-free cases when Jeremiah escorted an upset Mon-El out of the apartment.

Maggie and Lucy both eyed Alex, but she behaved herself.

Lucy let out a slow breath. She looked around for Kara, but it seemed she needed a moment to herself.

Never a dull moment with the Danvers sisters around.

 

* * *

 

 

Winn led Kara into the storage room where Lucy was already waiting. When Mon-El slid into the room, Kara looked read to throw a fit.

“If this is what I think it’s about-”

“No,” Mon-El said. “Nope. Turn around. 180. Back to there.”

Lucy crossed her arms. “Listen, Kara. Winn found something you need to know about.”

“You? Lucy, I expected better of you.” Kara crossed her own arms. “What is it?”

“Earlier today, J’onn’s giving Jeremiah a tour, right?” Winn glanced at Mon-El. “Well, when J’onn stepped away, uh, I… I saw Jeremiah trying to break into the DEO mainframe…”

“Wait, wait. Stop for a second. Were you _spying_ on Jeremiah?”

Lucy took a deep breath. She couldn’t keep letting the boys dig themselves deeper while she waited back. So she lied. “I asked them to. We had no protocols for this, Kara, agents don’t just _return_ over a decade later.”

“Lucy I can’t believe you!”

“You are not _listening_!” Mon-El growled. “Winn found something.”

“A _big_ something,” Winn agreed.

“What?” Kara asked.

“He actually _did_ break into the DEO system. He didn’t just _try_!”

“Too loud,” Mon-El hissed.

“Sorry!” Winn said. “But it sure as hell looks like Jeremiah is spying on us.”

Kara took in stuttering breath. She looked at Lucy. “Does Alex know?”

“No. I want to know for sure before I…”

“Before you break her heart?” Kara spat.

Lucy clenched her jaw and nodded.

Kara pursed her lips and nodded. “Come with me.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy followed after a very, very angry Alex. “Danvers.”

“ _Not now, Major._ ”

“Alex, please.”

Alex spun. Her entire body was tense, her finger stabbing into Lucy’s chest. “I can’t believe you. Kara- Kara is bad enough, I’m sure Mon-El can be _quite_ convincing, but _you_. You, I didn't expect this from.”

“You should have, Alex. They wrapped him up with a bow, okay? Look, you might have been lucky enough to escape action in Iraq, but I didn’t, okay? I saw women and children come in as refugees, trying to escape the Taliban, only to enter the safety of camp and blow it up!” Lucy threw her hands up. “I’ve seen Trojan horses before, okay? I don’t want to believe that Jeremiah is one, but I can’t rule out that he isn’t.”

“He is _my father_.”

“And he has been gone for _twelve years_ , Alex.”

Alex blinked away wet tears. “I can’t believe you, Lucy. If you don’t trust him, then trust _me_.”

“Alex, you were a teenager the last time you saw him. I _can’t_ trust your opinion, okay?” Lucy tried to reach for Alex’s arm, only for Alex to shrug out of reach. Alex wasn’t the only one blinking back tears. “I want him to be innocent, Alex. I want to welcome him back with open arms. I _want_ to. But I can’t just-”

Alex shook her head. “No. I don’t want to hear it, Lucy.”

Alex backed away, shaking her head.

“Alex-”

“Call me when you’re ready to admit you’re wrong, _Major_.”

Lucy hugged herself. She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. She swallowed. One breath. Two breaths. She opened her eyes and dropped her arms. Lucy tilted her chin up, and set her shoulders back.

She had work to do.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was waiting down the hall from the main frame when Jeremiah came for it. J’onn was on his heels, and was thrown through the glass.

“Dr. Danvers, don’t-”

Jeremiah’s “injured” hand sent Winn flying. He easily took out the security team that Winn’s alarm had brought.

He took J’onn out, for good this time, after a long fight. J’onn hit the ground and didn’t move.

She moved in, service weapon at the ready. “Dr. Danvers, step away from the computer.”

“You’re important to Alex, Lane. Step away, I don’t want to hurt you.” Jeremiah barely spared her a glance.

“Whatever you’re doing, I can’t let you get away with it,” she said.

The screen blinked and he pulled a drive out of the main frame.

Lucy placed her finger on the trigger. “Danvers, this is your last warning.”

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows and lifted the gun he’d taken from a member of security. He dove out of Lucy’s sightline and shot at the mainframe, taking it down.

She cursed and rolled into the room, gun at the ready. He ducked around the corner and sprayed bullets in her direction.

Two bullets caught her arm. Lucy dropped the gun, scooting back away from Jeremiah.

He stood and walked slowly in her direction. “I warned you, Lucy.”

“Don’t do this, Jeremiah. You’re going to crush Alex.”

He hefted the gun in his enhanced hand. “One day she’ll realize everything I do is to keep her safe.”

Lucy tried to duck out of the way, but the butt of the gun cracked against her skull and everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was pissed to find Alex had already gone after Jeremiah before she woke up. She was even more pissed to realize it was just the Danvers sisters against the world, with no DEO back-up.

She fought against Dr. Hamilton, signing herself out against medical advice, staggering to the command center as the steel walls of the DEO spun around her. She braced one hand against the wall to ground her, stumbling on her way.

Lucy wanted to puke.

When Supergirl spilt away from her sister to save a train after CADMUS blew the bridge, she did. All over Winn’s lap.

“Heeeey! Shit, Lucy. Are you okay?”

Lucy wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She hit the comm. “Danvers, retreat. You can’t do this alone.”

Alex didn’t act like she’d heard Lucy.

“How could you?” Alex sobbed. “ _How could you?_ ”

Jeremiah’s voice crackled over the comms, tinny and distant. “Would you believe me if I said I did it for you?”

“You betrayed everyone at the DEO.” Alex gasped. “Your friends. _Our family_. Everyone that I love.”

Alex sobbed.

Lucy gripped the back of Winn’s chair. He didn’t move, even with the lap full of vomit. His eyes were glued to the screens monitoring Alex’s vitals.

“You did that for me?” Alex asked.

“Family’s complicated, honey.”

“I’m bringing you in,” Alex said.

“Not alive, you’re not,” said Jeremiah.

Alex sobbed.

“If you want to bring me in… You’re gonna have to shoot me.”

Jeremiah knew exactly what he was doing to his daughter, and the second Lucy had the chance, she was ripping his heart out through his throat. Lucy tapped her comm. “If you need an order, Danvers... You have it.”

Alex inhaled sharply.

“If you do…” said Jeremiah. “I’ll understand. You were always the best part of me.”

Alex exhaled just as sharply.

Seconds of silence.

“He’s gone,” muttered Alex.

Lucy hung her head. “Call it a night, Danvers.”

The sharp sting of sickness stuck on the back of her tongue. She patted Winn’s shoulder. “Get cleaned up, Schott. I’m sorry about that.”

“No, no worries. Are you… are you okay?”

Lucy shook her head and regretted it immediately. “I’ll be find. I’m going to go clean up and get home. I doubt Supergirl or Alex will be dropping by to debrief tonight.”

Winn nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. The locker rooms are next to each other. Let me walk you, you’re not looking so good.”

“Such a charmer,” Lucy muttered.

She didn’t turn him down though, leaning heavily on him as they walked to get cleaned up. Or when he walked her out to meet her Uber.

Winn leaned into the car. “Hey, uh, if she passes out, take her to the hospital instead, okay?”

“Fuck off, Winn, I’m fine.”

“I shouldn’t let you leave.”

“We’re training in the morning.”

Winn paused and stared at her. “No we’re not. Text me when you get home.”

He shut the door and tapped the car.

Lucy spent the next ten minutes trying very, very hard not to throw up.

She succeeded somewhat.

She made it out of the car before losing everything that hadn’t dropped into Winn’s lap into the bushes in front of Alex’s building.

 

* * *

 

 

She was slow getting to Alex’s door.

She knocked slowly.

Alex cracked the door, eyes rimmed red. “You should be in medbay.”

“I should.”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

Lucy shrugged. “I don’t particularly want to say it. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Liar,” Lucy scoffed.

“Go home, Lucy. I don’t want to fight tonight.”

“I’m not here to fight.”

Alex shook her head. “Go home.”

She shut the door firmly in Lucy’s face.

Lucy swallowed. She turned her back to the wall and slid to the ground, cradling her head in her hands. Tears leaked between her fingers. She wiped at them roughly and grabbed her phone. If Alex wouldn’t talk to her, maybe Maggie could talk to her.

**To Detective Dimples:**

_Alex needs you_.

 

* * *

 

Footsteps shook Lucy awake.

Maggie knelt next to her. “Luce?”

Lucy shook her head. “Go check on Alex.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“Yeah, I tore a stitch. It’s fine.” Lucy rubbed at her eyes. “I’m… going to check on Kara, I think.”

“Why aren’t you in there with Alex?”

Lucy looked away from Maggie’s kind eyes. “Alex doesn’t want to see me after today.”

“Luce-”

Lucy shrugged Maggie’s hand off and pushed against the wall to stand. She straightened her spine, but still wobbled on her feet.

Maggie slid herself under Lucy’s shoulder. “Hell no. I’m going to get you to a doctor.”

“Checked myself out.”

Maggie let out a huff. “Of course you did.” She dug out her cell phone and dialed. “Hey, James. I need you to swing by Alex’s. Lucy needs someone to keep an eye on her. You can take her home in my car.”

“No-Maggie-no.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll get her downstairs and meet you outside.” Maggie hung up. She tugged Lucy to the elevator. “I’m not leaving you alone. Alex will be okay for ten minutes, I’m not sure you will be.”

“I’m _fine_.”

“Like hell, Lucy. I don’t know what happened today, but if I can’t look after you both myself, I’m going to make _damn_ sure there’s someone there to do it for me.”

“You’ll stay with her?”

“I’ll stay with her,” Maggie agreed.

They didn’t talk while waiting for James. Lucy leaned heavily on Maggie’s shoulder, burying her nose in Maggie’s hair and trying to blink herself away.

A halfhearted protest met deaf ears, and James shuffled Lucy into Maggie’s car easily. Maggie kissed her cheek and shut the door quietly.

Lucy was out before they reached the next block.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to throw tables
> 
> BUT
> 
> I intend to have 15 written up tonight to hopefully be ready to post tomorrow. So don't freak out too much. 
> 
> Also you should totally check out the bonus content [@yokothetypo](yokothetypo@tumblr.com) made for us.


	15. Episode 15: Backend Batman and Robin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy stands her ground and does her job, Winn's brain explodes, Pam readies her paperwork, and Vasquez wins a ton of money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mad props to [@letswreakhavoc](Http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for bouncing ideas with me, [@salamadersaurus-rex](Http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for the beta work, and [@freakykaethe](Http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the amazing gifwork!

****

****

****

 

**Episode 15: Backend Batman and Robin**

 

Desk duty. Her arm was nearly healed, but J’onn went over her head to Marsdin and demanded Lucy be forced onto leave, using her concussion as a reason. The President was very insistent, but Lucy managed to talk her into desk duty.

Not that she was particularly thrilled with paperwork. The lingering drumbeat behind her eyes was only made worse by form after form. The lights in her makeshift city office were off, the door cracked to let in just enough light to work by.

It was better than going back to her sparse apartment.

She hadn’t realized that so many of her things had migrated over to Alex’s place, and she didn’t want to go get them. Doing that would force a conversation that Lucy… was not ready for. Alex kept her distance from Lucy at work, and it was hard to tell who was avoiding whom.

Being right about Jeremiah’s betrayal apparently did not outweigh Lucy having suspicions in the first place.

Lucy leaned back and rubbed at her eyes. She slid her hand down to slide under the strap of her sling, shifting it slightly to put the pressure in a new spot.

She couldn’t wait to lose the sling.

Then she could go hit something.

A soft knock caused her to open her eyes.

Maggie’s dimples greeted her. She waved a bag in the air. “Special delivery for Major Pain?”

Lucy’s stomach rumbled. “Marry me.”

“It’s just a burger, Lucy,” Maggie laughed.

A burger that Lucy had quickly unwrapped and taken a giant bite out of, ketchup and mustard smearing everywhere. Maggie dug into the bag and threw some napkins her way.

“You and Alex are the worst.”

Lucy paused and swallowed. “How… how is she?”

“Stubborn and focusing on work. Just like you.” Maggie sighed. “Seems assholes are my type.”

“I tried to… I mean, I came by, Maggie. With a concussion and two bullet holes.”

“Yeah, that was just as stupid as Alex pushing you away,” Maggie glared. “You should have stayed in Medical like J’onn did.”

Lucy shrugged. “I prioritized.”

“Your _health and safety_ is a priority, too, Lane,” Maggie growled.

“Yeah, well, you’ll only have to worry about one of us running after CADMUS this time,” Lucy said. She motioned at her converted closet with her good arm, burger and all. “I’m benched on Presidential orders.”

“I should tie Alex down until it’s all settled.”

Lucy snorted.

Maggie’s eyes widened. “Not like-dammit, Lucy!”

Lucy shrugged her good shoulder. “It’s too easy sometimes.”

Maggie’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and cursed. “I have to go, there’s been another kidnapping.”

“The list?”

“Yep.”

“Fuck,” said Lucy.

“Pretty much.” Maggie leaned over the desk to give Lucy a quick kiss. “Dinner tonight, if I’m not running too late?”

“You should have it with Alex.”

“I should have it _with both of you_ , but you’re being assholes and you’re the one down an arm.”

“I can feed myself, Sawyer.”

“Microwaved food doesn’t count,” said Maggie. She stuck out her tongue. “I’ll see you tonight, Lane.”

“Be safe, Sawyer.”

“You too, troublemaker.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy cancelled on Maggie for dinner, citing a headache and insisting she wanted to be left alone. J’onn had swung by to discuss Jeremiah’s status as an enemy combatant.

What Lucy really wanted was a damn drink, but even she knew better than to trust her still healing head.

Winn’s text about Lyra and the bar sent her running, Army issued nightwear and all. She barely paused to put on shoes after hearing Alex and Maggie had been there. Winn sent her the alley video while she caught a ride back to base.

The grainy footage showed Alex in pursuit. Alex… with a gun to her head.

Lucy’s heart stopped, losing its rhythm.

James saved her, and Lucy wanted to kiss his big beautiful bald head.

Lyra missing, she could handle. She could compartmentalize, she could get to work.

Alex getting hurt?

Lucy would not have been able to push through that, she knew damn well she’d go on a rampage worthy of Kara on Red K.

Lucy slid to a stop in Command. “Where’s Alex?”

“Interrogating the CADMUS thug,” James said.

Lucy froze. She glanced from Winn, who was pacing and tugging at his hair, to J’onn, leaning against the center table. She looked at Supergirl and Maggie. “You’re serious?”

Maggie frowned. “Lane?”

Lucy shook her head and took off running to containment. She skipped the elevator and took the stairs down two at a time, ignoring the boom of her boots on the metal stairs and the echoing accompaniment in her head.

Her lungs screamed, and so did her arm, burning with each movement. She was gasping for air when she slammed her card up against the reader. She barely missed getting clipped by the door as it swung open, hurrying to wrap an arm around Alex’s ribs.

“Danvers, back up!”

Alex dove against the arm, jumping for the CADMUS lackey. Lucy gripped her tighter, hissing as Alex’s back slammed into her bound arm. Lucy took a sharp breath and used her full weight to toss Alex out of the cell.

Lucy glared at the bleeding man and huffed, stalking out and slamming the door behind her.

“I know what I’m doing, Major.”

“Do you?” Lucy asked, raising her eyebrows. “Do you really? Because he can’t talk if he’s dead.”

“I know my limits.”

Lucy snorted. “Sure. That’s why he’s leaking all over the damn floor.”

She adjusted the strap again with a grimace. Alex wrapped her arms around herself and looked away from Lucy, refusing to meet her eyes. Lucy took a deep breath and counted to ten, letting it out slowly.

“We might be off the books, Danvers, but we’re not GITMO, okay? We’re better than that.”

“He has answers we need.”

“And we’ll get them without _vivisecting him_.” Lucy swallowed. “I’m recommending J’onn bench you until you get your anger under control.”

That got Alex’s attention. “ _What?_ ”

“You’re going off the rails about this, Alex. I get it, I really do, okay? Your- Jeremiah betrayed us all. But this is not the way to get him back, okay? This way is dangerous, for you and for anyone I send out there with you.”

Alex stepped into Lucy’s face, towering over her in her combat gear. Lucy’s sneakers didn’t offer the same height as her heeled boots, but she didn’t back down. “My feelings will not interfere with protocols, Major.”

“They already are, _Agent._ I’m making my recommendation to J’onn, but it’s his site, his rules.”

Alex clenched her jaw. She shook her head in short, angry movements.

Lucy didn’t blink.

Alex spun on her heel and stormed away, knocking into J’onn on her way out.

Lucy sighed and slumped.

“Lane?”

Lucy shook her head. “Get medical down here, J’onn. I’m going back to bed.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was almost 6am when Maggie called, insisting Lucy meet them at Alex’s.

It was 6:15 when she stumbled in behind Kara.

“Hey, Maggie,” Kara said. “I heard what happened.”

“Something happened?” Lucy asked.

“J’onn shouldn’t have done that to you,” Kara said.

“It was a betrayal, and it was unfair. And I need you to explain that to J’onn, and just… just ask him to put me back on the case,” Alex begged her sister.

“What did J’onn say?”

Alex turned her head and blinked. Her face hardened when she realized it was Lucy she was looking at. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“Know _what_ , Alex?” Lucy threw her hands up. “I was _sleeping_.”

“J’onn flew in here while I was sleeping and pretended to be _my father_ to trick me into betraying the DEO,” Alex sneered. “I guess he listened to you.”

“That’s entrapment, Alex. I would never condone that,” Lucy frowned. “I also haven’t turned in that recommendation. I went home when you left, Alex. To bed.”

Alex wrung her hands. “You didn’t?”

“ _No_ , Alex. I _damn_ sure didn’t approve entrapment.” Lucy crossed her arms. “I can’t believe you think I _would_.”

“I…” Alex’s shoulders drooped. She glanced at her sister. “I’m… sorry.”

Kara glanced at Lucy. “I don’t agree with J’onn’s methods. But… Alex… I agree with his assessment. I think you should sit this one out.”

“What?”

“Alex, Winn pulled up the video,” said Kara. “I saw what happened. You lost it while interrogating a suspect. What’s going on?”

Alex glanced at Lucy and back at her sister. “That’s- That’s not what matters! What matters is he’s our _father_ and there’s _still_ good in him.”

Kara shook her head. “That’s… we can’t count on that, Alex.”

Alex shifted gear. “Lucy, you… you can overrule him, convince J’onn, ‘cause I have to be there when we find CADMUS…”

“Alex,” said Kara.

“I have to protect him!”

Lucy clenched her jaw. She looked at Maggie, who sat at the table, out of the argument.

“Alex, listen to me,” said Kara. She grabbed Alex’s shoulders. “I am not gonna let anything happen to Jeremiah, I promise. But you are putting all of your focus on him when you should be focusing on the aliens we are trying to find.”

Alex turned away from her sister.

“And when we find them? You risk making a bad call, putting him in danger. Or worse, getting yourself hurt.”

Maggie crossed her arms and stood. She stepped closer to to Alex, exchanging a sad look with Lucy.

Kara’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it. “I have to go, I’m sorry. I have to figure out how to get this article run. I’ll call you later.”

The door closed to silence, Alex staring after her sister.

Lucy swallowed.

Alex didn’t look at them. “I… I assume you agree with Kara.”

Lucy sighed.

Maggie risked a glance at Lucy. “Actually… I don’t. You wanna protect your dad? That’s what you need to do.”

Lucy felt her left eye twitch.

Alex looked to her. “Lucy?”

“Alex. I…” Lucy closed her eyes. “I want to protect your dad, okay?”

Alex stared at her.

Lucy sighed. “I… I’ve already arrested you for treason once, Alex. Don’t make me do it again.”

Any softening Alex had felt towards Lucy was gone. “So that’s that?”

“Alex, he could have thrown you in prison for that. Entrapment rules don’t apply to black sites. No judge, no jury, just life for treason.” Lucy let out a desperate bark of laughter. “At the very least you should have been fired. Take the suspension and _trust me_ to look out for your dad.”

“You want me to trust you? _Ha_. Why would I trust you when you clearly don’t trust me?” Alex shook her head. “Just… just get out, Lucy.”

Lucy inhaled and nodded sharply. She straightened her spine and dropped her arms, marching straight for the door.

There she paused. She glanced over her shoulder at Alex, then to Maggie. “Keep her safe, Mags.”

Then Lucy slipped through the door and closed it behind her.

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy’s day was not going well. Her morning started with what she was pretty sure was a breakup. Maggie joined Alex in going radio silent.

That… hurt.

Maggie had balanced them both since the last fight.

But now she cut Lucy loose just as easily as Alex had.

Her head was pounding. Her morning coffee was boiling acid in her stomach. Her arm ached from all of the jostling the night before.

“Luce, you’re not looking so hot.”

“Yeah, well, neither are you, Schott. What do you have?”

“Two more kidnappings. It looks like they’re going down the list in alphabetical order.”

Lucy leaned heavily on Winn’s chair. “Who’s next?”

“Ahhhh…” Winn typed a bit. “Bingo! Uh, they’re probably going after Brian next.”

“Brian?”

“Blue, gambling problem? Maggie’s always bailing him out?”

Lucy squinted. She reached forward and tapped a button, bringing Brian’s file on screen. Her eyes widened. “ _Oh_. Oh, I like him, he’s nice.”

Winn snorted. “Of course he’s nice, you hang out with the woman who bails him out and the other woman who scares him.”

Lucy grimaced and shook her head. “Where is he now?”

“We don’t exactly keep tabs on bookies, Luce, it’s a bit beneath the DEO’s priority list.”

Lucy stepped back and spun his chair around. She poked her finger into his chest. “As the director of the DEO, I am _making_ it a priority _as of yesterday_ , Schott. Find him!”

“Ye-yes, ma’am.”

She stepped back and allowed him to spin back around. She took a deep breath and rubbed at her temple.

“You should grab a bunk, Lane.”

“The only bunks here are in medical.”

“How convenient,” J’onn said blandly.

Lucy shook her head.

They stood there for a few moments just watching Winn’s screens blink from camera to camera. J’onn stood with his hands clasped behind his back, waiting. Lucy watched him out of the corner of her eye.

“That was a shit way to bench Danvers, J’onn.”

“Would you have been able to stop her?”

Lucy snorted. “Do you think you actually _did_?”

J’onn turned to face her. “What do you know, Lane?”

“Nothing, J’onn.” Lucy gritted her teeth. “I know she assumed I put you up to it. I know I was kicked out of my- her apartment when I agreed with your reasoning and told her she got off lucky with her punishment. I know that Alex is going to do something stupid, with only Maggie for backup. I know that you set our best, _our most volatile_ agent loose with no backup and no inclination to ask for it.”

Lucy paused. She turned to Winn, smacking the back of his seat.

“Ow, what? Where’s the fire?”

“Find Alex.”

“What?”

“ _Find Alex_. Find her, we’ll find the lead singer of Blue Man Group.”

“Sheesh, okay, chill. I’m on it.”

J’onn raised his eyebrows. “You think she’s ahead of the DEO.”

“I think her girlfriend has better offworlder connections than the DEO, and better relationships with those connections we _do_ share.” Lucy grinned mirthlessly. “Plus, you told her she couldn’t play.”

Lucy’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She dug it out and frowned. “Sawyer?”

“Luce, hey. Look, we just saved Brian from some CADMUS goons-”

“Where’s Alex, tell her to-”

“She’s already gone, Lucy.”

“ _You let her go alone_?”

“Hey, I’m calling you aren’t you? We’re under the 23rd Street bridge, okay, there’s a van here. Alex got a location from the GPS, so you might be able to get something off of it.”

“Where did she go, Maggie?”

Maggie sighed into the phone. “After her father, Lane.”

“ _Fuck_.”

 

* * *

 

 

The van was a question mark, the goons still unconscious. Not even Winn could get the GPS unit to talk without taking it back to a bigger computer. Lucy threw a rock in frustration, hissing when she jarred her arm.

“I’m sorry, Lucy.”

“For what, Sawyer?”

“I would give anything to change my dad’s mind, Luce.”

Lucy frowned. “What?”

“I’ll… uh. Let’s just say it has to do with Valentine’s and we can talk about it later.”

“Can we?” Lucy asked.

Maggie bit her lip. She ran a hand through the front of her hair and sighed. “I fucked up, Lucy. I should have helped you talk her down, I should have pushed her harder to talk about Jeremiah instead of playing Switzerland. It’s not you and me and her and me. It’s us, and Alex and I fucked up.”

“I knew what I was getting into.”

“No, Luce. No.” Maggie touched Lucy’s shoulder hesitantly. “No, I mean it started because you two had feelings, yeah, but you’re not the only ones, okay?”

Lucy stared.

Maggie reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Lucy’s ear. “I _really_ like you, Lucy. You’re beautiful and funny, and strong enough to stand up to hurricane Danvers. You’re amazing, just like she is. And you deserve more than what we’ve been giving you lately.”

Lucy swallowed, blinking back tears.

Maggie’s smile was sheepish, her dimples lopsided. “We’ll sit down and talk, the three of us, when we get Alex back. But, I just… I didn’t want her to run off on her own.”

“Like she just did?”

Maggie winced. “I… might have encouraged it so that I could call you?”

Lucy closed her eyes and inhaled slowly.

A gust of wind blew across Lucy’s skin.

“Do we know where Alex went?”

“No, Supergirl, we _don’t_. She shut her phone off, too.”

“Snapper won’t print the article, but I have an idea or two,” said Supergirl. “And Lena said she’d look through L Corp’s properties to see if there’s one her mother might be holed up in.”

Lucy and Maggie shared a glance, tilting their heads in the same direction as they stared down the city’s heroine.

“What?” Supergirl asked. “We were going to try that new kombucha place.”

“Kombucha?” Maggie asked.

“That’s _so_ gay,” Lucy muttered, much to Maggie’s amusement.

Supergirl narrowed her eyes. “Lena and I grab lunch a lot. She’s a great friend.”

“Sounds like a total pal,” Lucy drawled. “Let us know what she finds, okay?”

Supergirl nodded. “I’m going to make a few rounds while I figure out what to do with the article. See you later.”

Lucy looked up in the sky, watching the cape flutter away. She glanced at Maggie. “So how long do you think Lena thinks they’ve been dating?”

Maggie snorted.

 

* * *

 

 

“Lucy, J’onn I have a location!” Winn shouted.

“You got traced the GPS backwards?”

“Yes! Also,” Winn paused, “Kara texted.”

“Get a team ready, I’ll go ahead-”

Something beeped. Winn looked over, “Uh. Might want to hurry on that, sir-- I, uh, realigned a couple of satellites to get a better look?”

“And?” Lucy asked.

“And we just picked up some explosions.”

“Where did Danvers get explosives?” J’onn demanded.

“Pft,” Lucy snorted. “It’s Alex. She probably built them the last time she was on medical leave.”

J’onn sighed and pinched his nose. “Schott, where am I going?”

“Uh, decommissioned LexCorp property-” Another alarm went off. “Uh, guys, we have a problem.”

“Another one?” Maggie asked.

“Report,” J’onn barked.

“We’re detecting spacecraft launch on a hyperbolic trajectory.”

“What is it?” Maggie asked.

“CADMUS. It’s… it’s from the CADMUS site.” Winn’s phone rang. He frowned at it. “Uh, hey, uh, Alex. Lucy’s been looking for you, but can I call you back? We got an undetected launch.”

His eyes widened and he hit the speaker button. “What?”

“This is not a drill,” came Alex’s voice, loud and clear. “Once this ship breaches atmo it’s gonna jump to lightspeed.”

“So we need to stop it before it gets to space,” said Lucy. She swallowed against the growing lump in her throat.

Maggie’s hand slipped into hers.

“I’ll never get there in time,” said J’onn.

“Uh, plan B. This is a Hoshin frigate, so walk me through landing it.”

“Uh, give me a second,” Winn said, running for his tablet. “Okay, okay, got it, got it! Uh, okay, try toggling the switch next to the control yoke and that should put you back in manual control and then I can take it from there.”

“Two minutes,” said J’onn.

Lucy gripped Maggie’s hand tighter. Maggie reached up with her other hand and gripped at her jacket, just over her heart.

“Nothing’s happening.”

“The ship is still picking up speed,” said Winn.

“We need to slow it down,” Lucy said.

“Lucy, look, I… I need to apologize.”

“ _Absolutely not_ , Danvers. You’re going to come down here so I can strangle you.”

Alex let out a strangled laugh. “Can you even reach that high, Major?”

“I’m gonna kick your kneecaps out first,” Lucy promised.

“I’m here!” Supergirl called over the comms. “I’m here! I can slow it down.”

“Supergirl,” Alex said.

Beeping echoed through the phone.

“Winn? The screens just lit up red! What’s going on?”

“Counter-measures.” Winn paused. “Okay, they just registered Supergirl as a threat and they’re trying to target-lock.”

“Supergirl, keep moving!” J’onn ordered.

Lucy couldn’t feel her fingers. She bit her lip, digging in until she tasted copper. Maggie’s breath came ragged and uneven.

Gunfire came over the comms, echoing through Winn’s phone.

“Are you okay?” Winn asked.

“I’m alright. I’m-”

“Supergirl!” Winn shouted.

“Supergirl, come in!” Lucy ordered.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” J’onn calmed. “She just lost her comms.”

Winn’s phone crackled. Alex’s phone was reaching the limits of Earth’s satellites.

Winn glanced down. “Alex, in twenty seconds, the ship will be on the other side of the universe.”

“It’s up to her now,” Alex said.

His phone beeped ominously.

“We- We lost signal,” said Winn.

Lucy inhaled sharply through her nose. She smiled tightly at Maggie. She cut her eyes to J’onn. His eyes were closed, chin tilted up in concentration.

“He can’t read Kara’s mind,” she murmured to Maggie. “But he can still read Alex’s.”

Maggie swallowed harshly and nodded. She blinked away wetness and focused on the screen with the countdown.

The seconds counted down.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

“ _Yes!_ ” Winn shouted. “She did it! She did it! It’s stopped! It’s, uh, in low orbit, but they’re still here!”

Lucy let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. She folded into Maggie’s arms, burying her head in Maggie’s neck. “You’re sleeping on the couch. She’s sleeping on the floor. I’m getting that bed to myself for the next _year_.”

“Pft,” Maggie huffed. She kissed the side of Lucy’s face. “You’d get cold, blanket hog.”

J’onn cleared his throat. “Mr. Schott. Get me the instructions and an extra comm for Supergirl. Let’s get these people down to Earth.”

The agents crowded around the command center cheered.

Winn’s eyes, locked on Maggie and Lucy, blinked.

“Mr. Schott,” J’onn called.

Lucy flipped Winn off behind Maggie’s back.

“Uh, yes! Yes, sir!”

 

* * *

 

 

J’onn refused to let Lucy and Maggie join the transport crews meeting Alex and the nearly evicted offworlders. The excuse was leaving someone in charge (Lucy) and jurisdiction (Maggie).

Lucy thought he might be a little worried about her promise to Alex.

Winn stayed behind too, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. His eyes darted between Lucy and Maggie, as they had been for the last thirty minutes.

Lucy had shoved Maggie into a chair, and ignoring the agents around them, Lucy had sat herself in Maggie’s lap. Maggie’s arms had instinctively wrapped around her, Maggie’s chin tucking over Lucy’s good shoulder.

Maggie tapped Lucy’s hand. “You should put your sling back on.”

“I’m fine. It’s almost better.”

“Luce.”

Lucy tangled the fingers of her injured arm with Maggie’s and squeezed. “See? Fine.”

Maggie huffed.

Winn was still staring.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at Winn.

“Uh, so. You two got… close.”

Maggie hummed noncommittally.

“When did… when did this-” he swirled his finger. “-happen? Does… does Alex know?”

Lucy narrowed her eyes. Maggie brushed her lips over Lucy’s cheek.

Lucy smirked. “She sure seemed aware when she woke up with my-”

J’onn cleared his throat.

Lucy’s eyes shot over to where he stood, arms crossed, unimpressed dad face in place.

Just behind him, looking sheepish, was Alex.

Lucy shot out of Maggie’s lap fast enough to send the other woman backwards in her wheeled chair. She bolted for Alex, steps stuttering to a stop just out of reach. Lucy rocked back, uncertain.

Before Alex went rogue, they’d had a fight.

Alex had kicked her out.

Alex bit her lip, her eyes roving over Lucy’s face. Alex blinked back tears and opened her arms invitingly.

Lucy went for it. She jumped into Alex’s arms, trusting Alex to catch her. She wrapped her legs around Alex’s waist and dug her hands into Alex’s hair, dragging her down for a kiss in the middle of the DEO. A nipping, sucking, tonguing kiss, letting go of their fear, their worry, but not their anger, not quite.

When they finally separated for air, Alex ducked her head down, resting her sweaty forehead against Lucy’s. “Lucy, I’m so sorry.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Lucy murmured. “Soon.”

“Soon,” Alex agreed.

Maggie tapped on Lucy’s shoulder. “Do I have to invite myself to this party or…?”

Lucy laughed and dropped her feet to the ground, relishing the drag of Alex’s hands up her back. She slid one hand down to Alex’s waist, the other pulling Maggie into a group hug. She watched up close as Maggie and Alex shared a passionate kiss of their own, followed by Maggie kissing Lucy with just as much feeling.

“Oh wow,” Winn muttered.

J’onn cleared his throat. “Agent Danvers. Director Lane. Detective Sawyer.

They broke apart slowly. Reluctantly. They still held hands, even as they opened the circle to face him.

J’onn’s twitching lips betrayed his amusement. “Danvers, come with me. We need to discuss recent events.”

J’onn caught Lucy’s eye and nodded behind them. “But don’t worry, I’m sure Major Lane and Detective Sawyer will still be doing paperwork when you’re done.”

Lucy looked over her shoulder with a quiet dread.

Pam and Vasquez stood at the end of the hall, hands full of paperwork.

Vasquez smirked and waved their other hand… holding a pile of bills.

The agents around them started clapping, whooping, and hollering. Money exchanged hands several times, with a few more piles heading over to Vasquez.

Lucy narrowed her eyes.

“Vasquez,” she growled.

 

* * *

 

 

Alex showed up halfway through Lucy’s pile of brand new forms, created just for them. Maggie, exposed only briefly to Lucy’s revenge, was moving more slowly through the paperwork. Pam had a third stack waiting in front of an empty chair.

Alex dropped into the seat without a word and reached for a pen.

“So what’s the verdict, Danvers?” Maggie asked, looking up from her paperwork. “Did you get your job back?”

“Yeah,” Alex sighed. “I did.”

“Well good,” Maggie grinned. “‘Cause Lucy and I aren’t dating some unemployed slacker.”

Pam quietly dropped another stack of forms on Alex’s pile.

“Hey!”

“Reinstatement, post-event requisition forms, incident reports,” Pam listed. “You didn’t think you’d get away without doing your paperwork did you?”

Alex groaned. She glanced at her girlfriends. “Papercuts might cause some issues.”

“That’s okay,” Lucy grinned. “You can be eye candy while Maggie and I console each other.”

Pam choked on her coffee.

“Lucy!” her girls chorused.

Lucy finished signing her pile with a flourish, shoving them at Pam. She shifted in her chair, watching Alex slide out of her jacket. “I’m going to get more coffee.”

Maggie looked at her weirdly. “You didn’t get enough adrenaline spikes?”

“Decaf then,” Lucy shrugged. She dropped a kiss on both Maggie and Alex’s head and winked at Pam. “I’ll be right back.”

Lucy swung by the Medbay for a quick conversation with Dr. Hamilton before getting her coffee and heading back to Pam’s office.

Thankfully, Alex was still without her jacket.

Lucy pulled the injector from behind her back and shot it into Alex’s left shoulder.

“Ow! Lane, what the _fuck_?”

“Sub-dermal tracker, asshole. Inactive until the emergency code is activated.”

Alex rubbed at her shoulder and glared. “What if I don’t want it?”

“Then I want a divorce, because I _cannot_ go through this again.”

Maggie glanced between Lucy and Alex nervously.

Alex and Lucy stared each other down.

“You and Maggie get one, too.”

Lucy was the only one of the three who hadn’t been kidnapped. She tilted her head and considered. “Fine. We’ll go to Dr. Hamilton as soon as you’re done.”

“Fine,” Alex nodded.

“Fine with me,” Maggie said. “So long as you two stop fighting.”

Lucy tossed the injector onto Pam’s desk. “Working on it.”

Alex nodded.

Pam let them argue it out, digging through a drawer for something. She came up with a smile, dropping more forms in front of Lucy. “Medical operation without consent. Misuse of government equipment by unauthorized user.”

The pile was relatively small.

“Worth it,” Lucy said.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably be a week or so before anymore updates, but I hope I left you on a better note than yesterday!


	16. Episode 16: Rope Dancer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vas puts their winnings to good use, Lucy is a cuddly drunk, and Little Brother Winn gets his ass saved by his big sisters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mad props to [@letswreakhavoc](Http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com) for bouncing ideas with me, [@salamadersaurus-rex](Http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com) for the beta work, and [@freakykaethe](Http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for the amazing gifwork!

****

****

****

 

**Episode 16: Rope Dancer**

Lucy took Maggie’s hand and dragged her into the dive bar. Alex was working an extra shift, so Lucy declared it their night out. She had refused to tell Maggie why they were heading to a different bar, who they were meeting, or any other details.

Lucy hadn’t admitted she didn’t really know any details aside from the who.

Vasquez had invited them out for drinks, chosen the place and time, and asked Lucy to bring Maggie.

They spent so much time at the offworld bar that it was almost odd to just walk in.

“Luce, slow down.”

“Nope.” Lucy glanced around. For a dive bar, it was pretty busy. She stood on her toes and looked around. “Found them.”

“Found _who_?”

“C’mon.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and let herself be tugged along to a table near the dartboard. She almost ran into the back of her shorter girlfriend when she suddenly stopped.

“Maggie, you remember Vasquez?”

“Uh, yeah. You’re usually in the desert with Luce, right?”

Vasquez smirked and played with a dart. “Yep. I’m Lane’s right hand…”

Lucy narrowed her eyes at Vasquez. “So why are we here?”

“Thought I’d be nice and share my winnings, even though you didn’t bother to keep me in the loop.”

Lucy made a face. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

Maggie looked at Lucy. “Uhhh… you want me to grab you a drink, babe?”

“Nah,” Vasquez said. “Sit. I already ordered for you.”

Maggie took a seat in between Lucy and Vasquez, pulling her into other seat.

Lucy watched Vasquez’s smile widen, toothy and sharklike. That may have been a mistake on Maggie’s part.

Vasquez continued playing with the dart, spinning it in their hand and smiling eerily at Lucy and Maggie. Lucy kept her eyes on her friend, even as she held Maggie’s hand under the table. They sat in an uneasy silence until a waitress dropped off their drinks: beers for Maggie and Vasquez and three fingers of bourbon on ice for Lucy.

Lucy sniffed her drink, a pleased sound escaping her throat. She took a sip, letting the surprisingly high quality liquor slide over her tongue and burn down her throat. “Jesus, Vas, how much did you win?”

“Three grand.” Vas leaned back in their seat. “Made up for all the money I lost betting on you and Danvers to get your heads out of your asses alone.”

Maggie snorted. “You thought Alex would come out of the closet on her own?”

“Ah… no.” Vasquez grimaced. “I actually bet that she was out but uninterested in dating a coworker the first time.”

Lucy snorted. “Yeah, okay, who would be disinterested _when I’m around_?”

Maggie snickered into her beer.

“Uh, you did, boss.” Vas pointed their beer at Lucy. “That’s why you wouldn’t make a move, remember?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mm-hmm. That’s why the three of us needed a come to jesus moment, right?” Maggie asked.

Lucy pinched Maggie’s thigh.

Vas turned their attention to Maggie. They kept their thoughts to themselves for a moment, just staring at Maggie, watching the way Lucy leaned into her, the way they relaxed into each other. They tapped the dart against the table in a slow beat, staring. “Sawyer, I’m glad you made them face their feelings.”

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.”

“No, I bet it wasn’t.” Vas tilted their head. “But I hope you know that if you hurt either of them, even Supergirl won’t be able to save you.”

“ _Vasquez_!”

Maggie set her beer down. She offered a small smile. “You know, it’s really great that Lucy and Alex have so many people who care about them. But Supergirl already threatened to throw me into space.”

“You’ll see her coming,” Vasquez murmured. “Me not so much.”

“ _Vasquez!_ ” Lucy hissed.

Maggie squeezed her hand. “Hey, no, Lucy, it’s okay, I promise. Vas can threaten all they want. I’m not going to do anything on purpose to hurt you.”

Vasquez cleared their throat.

“Again,” Maggie added. She made a face. “I _am_ sorry, Luce. About taking Alex’s side.”

“No.” Lucy shook her head. “You did what you needed to so that we’d know what Alex was up to. She needed to feel supported, and you did that.”

“Danvers does what she wants,” Vasquez agreed. “But she’s a cornered animal when she feels that she’s on her own.”

Lucy sighed. “God that woman drives me nuts.”

“You love it though,” Vas teased.

Lucy dropped her head onto Maggie’s shoulder. “I do. They drive me nuts in the best way. Most of the time.”

“Not as much as you drive _us_ nuts.”

“What we do in the bedroom is none of Vas’ business,” said Lucy.

Maggie and Vas both choked on their beers. Vas wiped at their mouth, tears in their eyes, shaking with laughter.

Lucy grinned and motioned for the waitress to bring them another round.

 

* * *

 

A slightly drunk Lucy and a tipsy Maggie stumbled into Alex’s apartment. It wasn’t too late, just after midnight. Maggie helped Lucy out of her jacket and shoes, losing her own near the door. They made it over to the closet and changed into pajamas (Lucy only fell over once) and headed for the couch, only to find Alex watching them with an amused smile.

“How long have you been there, Danvers?”

“The entire time, lightweight.” Alex shook her head. “Tell me you guys took a cab.”

“Uber,” said Maggie. “Took one there too, so we won’t have to get our rides in the morning.”

Alex patted the couch. “Wanna watch a movie with me?”

“Cuddles!” Lucy exclaimed. She broke free of Maggie and ran for the couch, stumbling when she missed the step down from the bedroom. Lucy threw herself on the couch, bouncing slightly and scooting the couch back a few inches.

“Jesus, Luce.”

Lucy wiggled until her head was in Alex’s lap, lifting up long enough for Alex to stick a pillow under it. She rolled onto the side to wedge herself against the back of the couch and threw her left arm up. “Maggie! Come!”

“That’s not how I imagined you saying that tonight,” Maggie muttered, sauntering over. She laid down in front of Lucy, allowing herself to be spooned.

Lucy snuggled closer, burying her face in Maggie’s hair, pressing her nose to the back of Maggie’s neck and wrapping her arms around her.

Alex draped an arm over their ribs, her other hand flipping through the channels.

Lucy didn’t remember much more, not until she was rudely woken by static she hadn’t heard since the end of VHS tapes.

_To his captors: We demand you turn over Mon-El of Daxam._

Maggie and Alex pushed themselves up, forcing Lucy out of her warm cocoon.

She wasn’t happy about that. “What the fuck has your sister’s boyfriend done now?”

_We know where he is harbored. If you do not relinquish him by dawn, we will take him by force._

“I don’t know,” Alex murmured. “But we should probably head into the DEO to find out.”

“Buzzkill,” Lucy muttered. “You comin’, Mags?”

“Nope. I’m going to bed, wake me if the world is ending.”

Lucy blew a raspberry at Maggie’s retreating back. “You suck, Maggie.”

“You had your chance for that tonight,” Maggie called from where she was climbing into bed.

Lucy groaned and dropped face down onto the couch.

\--

When the transmission came through, an unknown spacecraft entered the lower atmosphere right above National City,” said J’onn.

“What do a bunch of space invaders want with a guard from Daxam?” Alex asked.

Lucy rubbed at her eyes. “Are we sure he was a guard?”

“ _Lucy_.”

“What, Kara? I’m serious, did we ever even try to verify that information? Check his pod. Anything?”

“Mon-El says he was a guard, and I believe him.”

Alex bit her cheek. She glanced over Lucy’s shoulder. “The, uh, pod… belonged to a Kryptonian diplomat, as far as we could tell.”

“So what was a Daxamite doing in it?” Lucy asked.

Mon-El cleared his throat.

Lucy looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry. Didn’t see you. What were you doing in a diplomat’s pod?”

“Like I told Kara, the Prince sent me along. He didn’t want to leave his people, but he wanted someone to have a chance.”

“And the diplomat? Was he not given a chance because he was Kryptonian?”

“ _Lucy_ ,” Supergirl hissed.

“He was killed by a falling meteorite,” Mon-El sneered. “A piece of his own planet.”

“Children,” J’onn grumbled. He motioned to the holo table. “Does any of this look familiar?”

Mon-El crossed his arms. “I’ve never seen a cruiser like that in my life.”

“We’re searching for the origin of the ship to see if that gives us any indication as to who our new friends may be, but so far, no match. Agent Schott!” J’onn looked around. “Where the hell is he?”

Lucy pushed off the table, ignoring Supergirl’s glower. She scanned the command center curiously. Winn was nowhere to be found.

 

* * *

 

Three hours later and dawn was swiftly approaching. Winn was still nowhere to be found, and Lucy had co-opted his chair after calling Vasquez in to assist in the search.

“The clock is ticking,” J’onn said.

Supergirl knocked on the table. “Well, I think it’s time we give the noobs the old Supergirl welcome.”

Lucy turned the chair and watched Mon-El chase after his girlfriend.

“I’m coming with you!”

Supergirl laughed. “No way.”

“Kara, you were…”

“All we know about these people is that they want you,” Supergirl said.

“Let them have him,” Lucy muttered.

Alex smacked her arm.

“So you should be the last person to go,” Supergirl said, stopping in the middle of the room.

“That… okay. Well, then, be careful,” he said.

“Always am,” Supergirl said.

At least half of the agents on the floor snorted at that, including Alex, J’onn, and Lucy.

“Respectfully disagree,” said Mon-El.

“That’s probably the first reasonable thing I’ve heard you say… ever.”

He turned and stalked toward Lucy. “What is your problem with me?”

Alex stiffened behind her, anchoring herself with a hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

Lucy tilted her head up to look at him. “So many things. But we only have til dawn, so let’s stick with the fact that I think you’re lying, and nowhere near good enough for Supergirl.”

“ _Rao_ I thought Kara had her head up her ass sometimes,” he cursed. “You have no right to judge me.”

“I’m a lawyer, Space Cowboy, that’s literally my career path,” Lucy smirked.

Alex snickered behind her.

“Alright, Supergirl, what are we working with?” J’onn asked.

Alex spun Lucy around and scooted her closer to J’onn, and further away from Mon-El. Lucy raised her feet to rest on the wheel wells to make it easier on her.

“Looks like it’s taken a few bumps and bruises,” Supergirl called over comms. “I’m going to approach.”

“Copy that. Proceed with caution,” said J’onn.

Alex moved to stand between Lucy and Mon-El, putting her hands on her hips.

Red lights flashed.

“They’re firing, sir,” Vasquez called out.

An explosion came over the comms. “I’m assuming that wasn’t friendly fire,” said Supergirl.

The alarms blared again.

“Supergirl, watch out!” Mon-El shouted.

Lucy gripped the arms of her chair, eyes glued to the screens.

“J’onn, she’s losing altitude,” Alex said. She glanced over at Lucy, her eyes worried.

“I’m trapped,” Supergirl admitted.

“I’m going up there,” said J’onn.

“Right behind you,” said Mon-El.

“Since when can he fly?” Lucy muttered.

“Lane, take the helm,” J’onn ordered.

She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, _boss_.”

Lucy stood and walked over to Vasquez. “How are their weapons tracking?”

“Uh, heat, I believe.”

“No! No, wait!” Supergirl grunted. More pounding sounded through the comms. “C’mon!”

Shattering. A thud, and screeching tires.

Suddenly the icon resembling Supergirl started climbing altitude again.

Alex let out a relieved sigh. J’onn and Mon-El turned back to the screens.

The speakers screeched out another alarm.

Mon-El strode back towards the comms. “Stop! Stop! Stand down!”

He looked at Vasquez. “Can you transmit my voice to them?”

They nodded and typed a few things. “Go ahead.”

“This is Mon-El of Daxam. To the invaders, I will relinquish myself.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows and shared a look with Alex.

“Weapons seem to be deactivating,” Vasquez called.

 

* * *

 

Lucy and Alex walked into the Police Station in civilian gear. Even still, they were both recognizable enough, Alex as Maggie’s girlfriend and Lucy as the Fed that Maggie liaised with, that they were allowed to go back without much questioning.

Alex opened the door. “Hey, I got your call.”

Lucy followed behind. “You know, Schott, you’re supposed to use your phone call for a lawyer.”

“You’re-you’re a lawyer,” said Winn.

Lucy cocked her head. “You called Alex.”

“I… uh…” he shrugged.

“This isn’t your jurisdiction,” Maggie crossed her arms.

“A head’s up next time would be nice before you arrest my friend,” said Alex.

“Come on, you know that’s not how that works. I don’t intervene with your job and you don’t question mine. And _this isn’t your jurisdiction_.”

“You’d better have proof,” Alex said.

“She doesn’t,” said Winn.

Lucy smacked the back of his head. “You aren’t qualified to judge that.”

He pointed at the video. “The crappy angle doesn’t even show Lyra.”

Maggie leaned forward and raised her eyes. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

“You think she set him up?” Lucy asked.

“Exactly,” Maggie agreed. She stood up.

“When was the last time you spoke to Lyra?” Alex asked.

Winn dropped an arm behind the chair and worked his jaw. “I, uh, I mean, I’ve been trying to call her all day.”

“Let me guess,” Maggie scoffed. “Her phone is disconnected.”

He sighed. “I don’t get it.”

Maggie leaned over the table again. “She framed you, Winn. Look, I got a partner out there who thinks that you’re going to be his 30th arrest of the month. That’s a station record.”

“You guys keep track of that?” Lucy scoffed. “Jesus, no wonder there’s no faith in the police department.”

Maggie shot a quick glare at Lucy. “I need proof that you weren’t involved, or they’re going to pin this on you, and I won’t be able to stop them.”

Lucy took a deep breath. She counted to ten, and let it out. “If it’s proof you need, we’ll get it.”

“Release Winn to us, okay? Give us 48 hours.”

Maggie stood up and shook her head. “You want me to let my prime suspect walk?”

“If we’re gonna catch Lyra, then we need Winn,” Alex argued. “We can’t just waltz up and expect a confession. Two days.”

Maggie pursed her lips. She glanced from Alex to Lucy. She flipped open the folder. “And look at that. Looks like McConnell forgot to sign the warrant.”

Maggie looked at Alex seriously. “You have 24 hours. A minute longer and I’m coming for him myself.”

“Better make sure your warrant’s signed, Sawyer, or I’ll rip your department to shreds,” Lucy grinned.

Maggie was not amused.

“She femme-fataled me,” Winn whined.

“Well, you certainly have a type,” Alex said.

“Oh yes, blonde and alien or a meta that can kick your ass.” Lucy tilted her head. “Lyra is somehow both.”

Alex leaned in and kissed Maggie’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Maggie nodded.

Lucy leaned in and kissed Maggie on the lips. “Thanks, Mags. We’ll get enough to make you look better than McConnell.”

‘Maggie huffed and rolled her eyes at Lucy. “Get out of here, Lane.”

 

* * *

 

 

Alex leaned on the table with her tablet. J’onn had long since tossed his down. Winn stood nearby, shuffling his feet with his hands deep in his pockets. Kara paced behind them while James leaned quietly beside Lucy, here to help however he could.

While there were certainly parts of the video Lucy could live with never seeing again, she sent herself the goofiest clips to tease Winn with later.

J’onn glared, but Lucy paid no mind.

“We’ve examined this footage frame by frame, she’s just not there,” said Alex.

“Uh, well, she was there. And I have the bruises. They’re wonderful bruises. And well…” Winn shifted away from the table and moved to point.

Alex held up a hand. “Please don’t point to where they are.”

“Please, Danvers, I guarantee yours are worse,” Lucy grinned.

“ _Lucy_ ,” Alex hissed.

“Lane!” J’onn barked.

Beside her, James snorted. Her ex was getting quite the show.  

Winn grinned back at Lucy.

She winked at Alex, who looked down at her tablet, face red. “Winn, who are her people?”

“Valerians.”

“Valerians can’t be seen in photographs.” J’onn glanced around meaningfully. “Or on security cameras.”

“And there’s no picture of her in her amnesty file either,” said Alex.

“Ohhhh. That’s… that’s something no one considered.” Lucy hummed. “Maybe offworlders with similar abilities should sit down with a sketch artist when they file for Amnesty.”

“That’s not- that’s not really the focus right now, Lucy,” Winn whined. “I have an invisible girlfriend!”

“Who used your tech skills to get into the museum, and then pulled the disappearing act to make the grab,” added James.

“Well, it looks like this wasn’t her first time either,” said Alex. She tapped away on the little screen before sending it up to the monitors. “Check it out.”

Several articles about other stolen works by other men claiming to be framed filled the screens. Lucy rolled her head back and inhaled loudly through her nose. She counted to ten and exhaled just as loudly. She made a face at Winn. “We have _got_ to work on your taste in women. It’s almost as bad as Alex’s taste in men.”

“My taste in men wasn’t _that_ bad they were perfectly nice guys.”

“Maxwell Lord,” Lucy sang.

“ _That wasn’t a date!”_ Alex stomped her foot.

Everyone had a good snicker at that. J’onn and Kara avoided Alex’s eyes, but James and Winn just grinned. Lucy had no shame, smiling with all of her teeth in the face of her angry girlfriend.

Alex cleared her throat and glared at Lucy. “There have been two other major heists in the past nine months. We had a Rodin stolen from the Modern Arts and Cultural Museum and an original Warhol taken from the Art Institute of Metropolis.”

J’onn walked around the table and turned Alex’s tablet to face him. “Yes, same MO. Both perps claimed their girlfriend set them up.”

James turned back around. “Sorry, Winn.”

Winn raised his hands. “Oh, no, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault I’m an idiot.”

“Hey, sometimes the people closest to us are our biggest blind spots,” said Kara.

Lucy frowed and caught Alex’s eyes. Alex shrugged slightly, cutting her eyes back to Kara.

“Do you know where she lives?” James asked. “Where we could find her now?”

“No, we’ve only ever been to my place.” Winn took a deep breath. “ Ah, I know she’s from Starhaven and she came by herself. And that she’s registered. “

“Haven’t you been dating for months?” Lucy asked.

“The address she’s registered under looks like a fake,” said J’onn.

“Well, great,” sad Winn. He hung his head.

Lucy wanted to hug him. That was a weird feeling.

“I mean, the Alien bar, it’s where we met.”

Lucy punched his shoulder instead. “That’s a start!”

“Let’s go catch a thief,” said Jams.

“Yes!” Kara cheered. She lifted her hands. “Superfriends back in the habit!”

James and Winn reached up for high fives only to have Kara grip them tightly in her excitement. The boys groaned.

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Too much,” Winn muttered.

James hummed in agreement. “Should we, uh… should we get Mon-El?”

Kara braced herself on the table and hung her head. “No.”

Lucy and Alex shared another look.

“You know what? Um, you guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” said Alex.

J’onn and the boys agreed and wandered away.

Lucy briefly considered following them, but the last time she left relationship talks in Alex’s hands she tried to push her sister to the near-immortal frat boy.

Alex slid around the table to lean right next to Kara. She looked her sister up and down, from the clenched fists to The Crinkle. “Maybe you should sit this one out.”

“Are you kidding? No!” Kara pushed away and walked after the boys with a forced swagger and exaggerated movements. “I’m ready to _Nancy Drew_ the crap out of this!”

Lucy and Alex jogged to catch up.

Lucy threw an arm around the Kryptonian’s waist to slow her down. “Okay, enough with the over-enthusiastic deflecting, okay?”

Alex wrapped her arm around Kara’s shoulders. “We know you’re upset with Mon-El. And you have every right to be. Okay? Own it.”

Lucy frowned and shot Alex a look behind Kara’s back. Clearly she’d missed something.

“I just uh… I hate him right now.”

Alex pinched Lucy before she could say anything.

“I get it,” Alex said. “And I hate that he hurt you, but relationships have their ups and downs, Kara.”

“Yeah, this is more than a down, Alex. I don’t know who he is any more.”

“Did we ever?” Lucy asked. “Look, I’m all for working things out in relationships you really want, okay? I tried with James, and _god knows_ Maggie and Alex and I have shit we need to work through all the time. But if you need to step back from Mon-El and re-evaluate where you two stand, _do it_.”

Kara pulled away and wrapped her hands around herself. “Do you know why Daxam was such a party planet? Because the Royal Family kept their subjects drunk and distracted, so they didn’t realize how oppressed they were. Mon-El was a part of that.”

“Kara,” Alex sighed. “Maybe Mon-El is an evil prince. But maybe he’s just a guy who’s ashamed of his past, and he’s looking for a fresh start.”

“And maybe he’s just a douche working to get into the girl-next-door’s pants on the regular,” Lucy shrugged. “That’s something you have to figure out for yourself, kid.”

Alex narrowed her eyes at Lucy. She looked back at her sister and softened. “Talk to him, okay? Give him a chance to explain, then see how you feel.”

Something beamed down onto the balcony.

Someone, rather.

“Kara Zor-El.”

Lucy and Alex reached for their weapons, as did every agent in sight.

J’onn raced around the corner. “Stand down! Stand down! Do not engage!”

Alex took a quick glance behind her, shook her head, and refused to lower her weapon.

The woman took a few more steps. “I need to speak with you.”

It was only when Kara stepped past them that Alex and Lucy lowered their weapons. They watched as she beamed up with the Daxamite.

“Who was that?” Lucy asked.

“Uh, Queen Rhea, I think.”

“Queen.”

“Of the Daxamites,” Alex added.

“Uh-huh. And she wanted Mon-El.”

“Her son.”

“So, he wasn’t a guard?”

“Uh, no, apparently he’s the prince.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “And you’re pushing Kara towards him like this is some _The Prince and Me_ shit why, exactly?”

Alex made a face. “Are you coming to the bar with me or not.”’

“Oh, with. You still owe them for the barstool from _last_ time.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy sighed and crossed her arms.

She should have known better than to think Alex’s promise not to break any more furniture meant she’d behave well.

Winn and James weren’t helping at all, just sitting back and watching Alex work.

The same beardy dick from last time grunted as Alex dug his face into the felt of her favorite pool table. She had his arm twisted up behind him, leaning her entire body into the hold.

“Anyone ever tell you you’ve got anger issues?”

“I prefer the term leadership skills,” Alex quipped.

If Lucy rolled her eyes any harder, something was liable to break.

James sat himself down in a backwards chair. Winn at least looked a little less comfortable with Alex’s easy violence.

“Ah, Worris, we’re looking for a girl.”

“Aren’t we all?” Worris quipped.

Lucy suddenly felt less bad about the way Alex lifted the man and slammed his head back into the table.

“I’d answer her questions, ‘cause this table’s not getting any softer, buddy,” said James. He rolled the 11 ball in his hand and tapped it on the table twice.

“Lyra Strayd, she’s a Valerian,” said Alex. “She’s been involved in a string of art thefts.”

“I’ve never heard of her,” Worris groaned.

“ _Come on,_ blonde hair, blue eyes… the chin of a serial backstabber,” Winn muttered.

Lucy shot him an unimpressed look.

“Even if I did know something, why would I tell you?”

Alex looked up at Lucy and licked her lips.

Lucy pursed her own. She shook her head, stepping over to lean her face down to Worris’. “Because the only reason you don’t have a broken cue up your ass right now, or a bar stool crushing your windpipe again, is because I made her promise not to break any _furniture_ here. But, see… Worris, is it? Right. Worris.” Lucy paused. “This table here is pretty sturdy, and Lyra screwed over my friend Winn. You could say he’s like a little brother to Alex. An annoying, stupid, wimpy little brother with horrible taste in women.”

“Hey!” Winn protested.

Lucy ignored him. “Now, you have every right to keep silent, that’s a right given to every offworlder that applied for amnesty. Oh, wait… but you haven’t done that, have you?”

Worris grunted.

“Oh, oh that’s unfortunate. See, I only made Alex promise not to break furniture. And while I disagree and disapprove of state sponsored violence, this one time I might make an exception. You are, after all, an undocumented offworlder aiding and abetting a suspect in an federal grand larceny case, a federal felony. That could very well get you deported.” Lucy stood up and tapped her fingers on the felt next to her face. “You might want to think about it.”

Alex let him up.

He rubbed at his forehead. “I want Hamilton tickets.”

Worris paused and stared at Alex. “Orchestra.”

Alex let out a sigh.

“We’re screwed,” said Winn.”

Alex bit her lip and shared a glance with Lucy. She looked back at Worris. “ _Deal_.”

“Her kind hangs out at the trailer park. Up near Blackmore. That’s where she’d be.”

Alex nodded and turned her back to Worris, hurrying the boys out. Lucy followed.

“ _Hamilton_? How are you going to pull that one off?” Winn asked.

“The guy who plays King George is from Rimbor Five. He owes me a favor.” Alex muttered. “And you owe me an even bigger one, that was going to be Kara’s Christmas present.”

Lucy tugged on Alex’s arm. “Hey, I’m going to report in, let J’onn and Kara know where you’re at. Be careful?”

“Always.”

‘“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Alex grinned and pecked Lucy on the lips. “I promise I’ll be careful, Luce.”

 

* * *

 

Lucy sat in the chair she stole from Winn, watching him pull up a file. She had scooted far away from Alex, who had promised to be careful and then nearly been mowed down by a van.

Seemed James was learning a thing or two about situational awareness in his training.

And that Alex needed a refresher course.

“Okay, so the fence is some guy named Mandrax.”

“Mandrax was a resident of Fort Rozz for quite some time,” J’onn said. “After Fort Rozz crashed, he escaped.”

“Since then, he’s been a big player in the art trafficking business,” Alex added, hands on her hips.

J’onn nodded and glanced down at his crossed arms. “Earth art is big money.”

“Yes, it’s great that Picasso is intergalactically adored,” Winn huffed.

“What do you want to do?” James asked.

“Here’s what we do. We go in, we give them the painting. We get back Lyra’s kid brother. We get out. Done and done right? Lives saved, heroes praised.”

“You _know_ we can’t do that, Winn,” Lucy said. She kept her tone low and gentle.

J’onn did not. “Agent Schott, we have an intergalactic art-smuggling ring, and one of National City’s most violent alien gangs in our grasp. Ms. Strayd...”

“Needs our help,” Winn interjected.

“Is an admitted con artist.”

“Her brother is in danger.”

“You’ve never been to her place before today, Winn.” Lucy sighed. “Have you ever met this brother?”

“Or could this be just another con from a woman who knows how to play you?” J’onn asked.

“I believe her,” said Winn.

“I know you do,” J’onn said, more gently. “But I can’t afford to. We’ll investigate Mandrax and proceed accordingly.”

 

* * *

 

Alex dragged Lucy into the same storage room that podboy had chosen for Kara’s come-to-jesus meeting about Jeremiah. She wasn’t thrilled with it.

Neither was Winn. “Hey, Alex, I said tell no one.”’

“And I promised Lucy no more secrets,” Alex smirked. “I’m not sleeping on my own couch.”

Lucy glanced between the hand gripping hers and the two idiots in front of her. “You two are planning something stupid, aren’t you?”

“It’s not stupid!”

“It’s stupid,” Alex disagreed. “But he’s smart enough to ask for backup.”

Lucy groaned and tugged her hand free to rub at her eyes. She inhaled and exhaled at counts of ten. “What’s the plan?”

“I break Lyra out, take the painting, meet the guy, grab her brother and go.”

“Jesus Christ,” Lucy cursed.

“I go for back up, keep myself out of sight unless absolutely necessary.”

“Uh, no.” Lucy pointed. “Not by yourself you’re not. I’m not letting Lucy’s Law get you killed.”

“Lucy’s Law?” they echoed.

“Lucy’s Law: Anything involving a Danvers can and will go wrong, as will first three back up plans aimed at preventing it.”

Alex looked really offended for a brief moment. As she mulled it over, she made a face and nodded her acceptance.

Winn glanced between them. “Are you… are you going to try to stop me, Lucy?”

Lucy clenched her jaw and considered. She tapped her fingers on a nearby container and thought over her options. She felt Winn and Alex’s eyes bore into her. “No. No, I’m not. But we’re playing this by my rules.”

Lucy pointed at Winn. “You are getting a subdermal tracker _now_ , before you leave. We’ll stick a small tracking device in the tube with a fake as well. I’ll call Vasquez and get them to scramble some signals for us, while I keep J’onn busy. Take James for immediate backup.”

Lucy turned to face Alex. “ _You_. You will gather a strike team from my base to keep the crew here out of trouble if things go south. They’ll be _my_ direct reports under _my_ orders, aside from you. You _will not_ go alone, you _will_ wear full gear, and you _will_ wear your goddamn tac helmet, understood?”

Alex’s eyes grew dark. She licked her lips. “Understood, _ma’am_.”

Lucy ignored the growing warmth. “Right. And you’ll both be on comms the entire time, so I can send more back up if I have to.”

Winn rushed her for a hug, squeezing the air out of her. “Thank you so much, Lucy.”

‘You better be right about this, Schott.”

 

* * *

 

“A ring of alien art thieves and the real ‘Starry Night’ as promised,” Winn said. He tried to teasingly pull the tube of art out of Maggie’s grasp.

He failed. She unclasped her arms and ripped it out of his hands.

“All within 23 hours and 15 minutes. Winn Schott and GF exonerated. Boom.”

Lucy and Alex rolled their eyes.

Maggie suppressed a smile and looked back at them. Alex was biting her cheek to hold her own smile in. Lucy kept her arms crossed and glaring at Winn, still smarting from the disappointed dad talk she had received from J’onn.

“Um, as for just, like, any connection that lyra and her brother might have with previous thefts?” he asked, leaning closer to Maggie.

“Well, I don’t have any hard evidence, so I’ll take their help in retrieving Van Gogh as a sign of good behavior to come.”

Winn grinned and clapped Maggie on the shoulder. “You’re a good egg, Sawyer.”

Maggie glanced at his hand before smirking at him. “Leave before I throw you into holding for fun.”

Alex crossed her arms pointedly and raised an eyebrow at Winn.

He nodded and quickly removed his arm. “I have… better places to go.”

Maggie grinned at his quick escape. Winn was practically scampering away. “Think I scared him?”

Alex wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Almost as good as I do.”

Lucy wedged herself under Alex’s other arm. She reached around and pinched Maggie’s side. “Take us home. Alex gets the backseat and the handcuffs.”

“Wait, what?

Lucy smiled mercilessly. “You didn’t wear your fucking helmet.”

Maggie snickered into Alex’s shoulder. “You got it, Major Pain.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Lucy was running behind on paperwork for the new transfer.

She entered the main command to find everything in chaos, the prisoner free and some sort of device in his hand.

Alex, along with the other agents, had their guns drawn.

Supergirl, however, something was wrong. Her eyes were blown wide and she wavered on her feet.

Lucy stepped cautiously around the prisoner, trying to get to her friend’s side. “Supergirl?”

The prisoner jumped through the portal tossing the device in the air. Winn caught it, barely, but Lucy’s attention was on Supergirl as her eyes rolled back and she dropped.

Before Lucy or Alex could get to Supergirl, however, podboy had leapt over the balcony and caught her.

“Kara?” he asked. He shook her gently.

Kara didn’t wake. Not even when Alex called her name.

“We need to get her into observation.”

J’onn shook his head. “We need to warn Mr. Allen that the Music Meister is coming.”

“We need to wake her up!” said Alex.

J’onn shook his head. “We’re not capable of waking her up from this, Alex. But Mr. Allen’s team might be able to help. He seems to know them, they must have some connection.”

“J’onn!”

“I’m coming,” said Mon-El.

“Like hell,” Lucy sneered. “She dumped you.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t still care.”

“Alex should go. Next of Kin.”

Mon-El shook his head. “I’m not letting go of her.”

Alex pointed her gun. “Let her go.”

J’onn pushed the gun down. “Relax, Agent Danvers. Stay here, keep the city running. I will accompany Mon-El to Earth-1. We might need his strength to defeat this being. We will contact you if we need you.”

“Sir-”

“Danvers, that’s an order. Mr. Allen has a dedicated doctor on site, we will bring Supergirl back to you, this I promise you.”

Alex grit her teeth.

Lucy reached for her hand and slowly pulled the gun away, replacing it with her own. “C’mon, Alex. The idiot won’t let anything else hurt her.”

“I swear, I’ll protect her wi- hey!”

Alex snorted. She stared down at her sister’s face and tucked a few stray strands behind Supergirl’s ear. “If anything happens to her, I’ll drag your intestines out through your lying mouth.”

Mon-El nodded seriously and stepped forward with J’onn, who took the device from Winn. J’onn reactivated it and they stepped through. They were gone.

Lucy squeezed Alex’s hand. “C’mon. We need to keep the city running.”

“Yeah.” Alex swallowed. “Yeah.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, folks, I'm going to try to get a few others out this week to make up for it. Drop a line in the comments or come see me at@bathtimefunduck


	17. Episode 17: Piggy Back Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lovely ladies are introduced to a major part of Maggie's past, and she and Lucy share some heart to hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck. Real life kicked my ass last week and I didn't get nearly enough done. Thanks for sticking with me!
> 
> As always, superduper thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com), [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com), and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for all their amazeballs work at helping me make this a reality.

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**Episode 17: Piggy Back Catch**

 

“I can’t believe Kara took that douche back,” Lucy muttered.

“It’s her decision, Luce.” Alex shrugged. “If he makes her happy…”

“Does he, though?” Lucy asked. She lifted her head from Maggie’s lap to stare at Alex. “Does he really?”

Alex tapped at Lucy’s ankles and made a face. “She says he does.”

Lucy flopped back down with a groan.

Maggie reached down with her free hand and patted Lucy’s stomach. Her other arm was propped up on the armrest, holding her book open far away from Lucy’s antics in her lap. “She also says Lena’s her best friend, Lane, I wouldn’t take it to heart.”

“Are you saying she doesn’t think they’re actually friends?”

Lucy and Maggie shared a look.

“No, Danvers,” Lucy snickered. “They’re great pals.”

Alex tickled the bottom of Lucy’s feet. Lucy squealed and rolled, hitting the floor hard.

“The fuck, Danvers!”

Alex’s lips twitched. Maggie was clearly hiding a smile behind her newly raised book.

Lucy shoved the hair out of her eyes and kicked at Alex’s ankle. “That was _not_ cool, Alex.”

“Stop making jokes I don’t understand.”

“Git gud at gay, Danvers, and you’ll understand.”

Alex snorted. “I didn’t hear you complaining at my gay last night.”

“I will never complain about any of your naked activities,” said Lucy. “Unless I’m out of town and you don’t record them.”

“No-go, Lane, I am not sending you porn over the internet.” Maggie flipped a page.

“It’s not porn if you’re dating the participants, it’s long-distance love.”

Alex barked out a laugh and offered a hand to pull Lucy back onto the couch. “I am _not_ explaining to Winn why he needs to encrypt my computer.”

Lucy paused. That wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have either. “That’s fair.”

Lucy sprawled back on the couch again, this time with her head in Alex’s lap and her feet in Maggie’s. Maggie kept her free hand on Lucy’s ankles, but Alex’s hand immediately went to Lucy’s hair, nails digging into her scalp. Lucy melted at the scritches, letting the silence fall between them until she had a thought.

“What if we used closed-circuit cameras and an off-network pc?”

Both of her girlfriends unceremoniously shoved her back onto the floor.

“Rude,” Lucy huffed.

 

* * *

 

Lucy was disappointed to have to go in to work and be briefed on the President’s new orders regarding Prince Ponce’s parents while her girls were off at yoga. Alex might jokingly complain about it, but she and Lucy both enjoyed the peace and zen of staring quietly at Maggie’s ass for an hour before work. J’onn’s frowny face just didn’t compare.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Major Lane.”

“Eavesdropping is rude, J’onn.”

J’onn made a face. “As are your thoughts.”

Lucy grinned. “If you had ladies that hot waiting for you to come home, you’d spend your day thinking about them, too. Speaking of hot ladies waiting on you, how’s M’gann?”

J’onn cleared his throat. “M’gann is well, last I heard. Can we get down to business?”

“I’m taken now, J’onn.”

J’onn closed his eyes. Lucy was willing to bet he was counting to ten.

“Madam President is worried about the Daxamite ship.”

“Still hovering, hm?” Lucy finally slid into a seat next to J’onn. She slid the reports away from him and started flipping through them. “And no contact? She’s right to worry.”

“She’s ordered us not to engage.”

“At all?” Lucy froze. “Shouldn’t we at least send the golden boy up for a status check?”

J’onn shook his head. “She wants to gather more intel before our next move.”

Lucy tapped the papers on the table. She frowned. “How… how will the civilian President of the United States gather more intel than the government organization _literally designed_ to focus on interstellar intelligence?”

“I can’t answer that, Lane.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

J’onn’s face didn’t change.

Lucy tilted her head. He could be messing with her. J’onn probably didn’t know a thing. But Lucy had a gut feeling he knew more than he was letting on.

And Lucy was known for two things: being an asshole, and trusting her gut.

“What aren’t you telling me, J’onn?”

J’onn smirked. “That’s classified, Major.”

 

* * *

 

Lucy made her way to the precinct, frown still in place. Something about the President’s orders still dug at her. She was so lost in thought, she nearly ran over the very person she was looking for.

“Hey, Lane, where are you off to in such a hurry? The boss is out to lunch.”

“Good thing I’m looking for you, huh, Sawyer?”

Maggie crossed her arms and stared Lucy down. “You okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, just a thing with J’onn.”

“We missed you this morning.”

Lucy grinned and glanced around to Maggie’s backside. “I missed seeing you, too.”

“I was talking about Alex and me, not me and my ass.”

“Pity, I was talking to your ass.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here, Lane?”

“I can’t take you out to lunch?”

“What makes you think I haven’t eaten?”

“Because each and every one of us is cheating on our relationship with work,” Lucy snorted. “C’mon, your favorite food truck’s around the corner.”

“Falafels and Waffles?” Maggie paused and raised the back of her hand to Lucy’s forehead. “Now I know something’s wrong.”

Lucy shoved her hand away. “The burger truck’s right next to it.”

“Ah, that makes more sense. Lead the way, Lane.”

Once they were out of sight of her job, Maggie slid her hand into Lucy’s. While they were out at the DEO, everyone was afraid of Agent Badass and Major Pain. Maggie didn’t have the same protections, and her partner and captain knew about Alex.

Lucy was fine with that. She had enough reasons to swing through and chat with her liaison officer without playing the dating angle.

Lucy nudged Maggie with her shoulder. “So what’s up? You’re spaced out.”

“Alex and I ran into my ex this morning.”

“That’s fun. Did you punch her in the face?”

“What? No! Why would I do that?”

“Sometimes I still want to punch James.” Lucy shrugged. “Out of the three of us, I have more self control, so if you had the urge it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Oh my _god_ , Lucy.”

“What?”

Maggie shook her head and jogged over to her food truck of evil.

Lucy gagged a little on the smells coming from it. “Hey, I was gonna buy that!”

Maggie waved her off. “Buy your cow.”

Lucy rolled her eyes and ordered her burger with a side of sweet potato fries. Her mouth watered at the thought of Alex not being around to steal them. Order in hand, she met Maggie at one of the nearby benches.

She made a face at Maggie’s food. “I can’t believe you eat that crap.”

“I’d think someone who served in the Middle East would have an appreciation for art like this.”

“No, because it’s gross.” Lucy paused. “Especially from a food truck in _California_.”

Maggie took a big bite and hummed her appreciation.

Lucy wasn’t nearly as polite, moaning obscenely at the salty sweet of cheeseburger and ketchup. It was only half for show.

The half-chewed falafel she could see thanks to Maggie’s dropped jaw was a little gross.

“Jesus, Lane, warn a woman.”

“I thought you liked to hear me moan,” Lucy sassed.

“Yeah, _in private_.”

“That’s not what Alex-”

“Oh my _god_ , Maggie, you’re just out in the open with it now?”

Maggie flinched.

Lucy looked up. A pretty auburn haired woman was staring at Maggie with disgust. “Excuse me?”

“Do you know she was with another woman this morning? Christ, Maggie. You _just_ invited me to dinner with your girlfriend.”

“Alex invited you,” Maggie muttered.

“And you,” the woman turned on Lucy. “You’re just… which one of you is she cheating on?”

“Neither,” Lucy raised her eyebrows. “We’re a triad, not that it’s any of your business.”

The woman snorted. “Wonderful. It seems you’ve finally found someone willing to cater to your delusions.”

“Emily-”

“Oh, no, I can’t wait for dinner. I can’t wait to see what kind of job you’re running on that poor girl.”

Lucy watched the woman stalk off, heels clacking on the sidewalk. “I’m guessing that’s the ex.”

“Emily. Yeah.”

“Alex invited her out to dinner?”

“Wanted me to know how cool she was being.”

Lucy pursed her lips, then ran her tongue along them to chase the salt. “There a story there?”

Maggie grunted and took another bite of falafel. “Isn’t there always?”

“You gonna talk to Alex about it?”

Maggie paused. “Do you not want me to talk to you?”

Lucy dug through her fries and handed the three smallest to Maggie. “Do you _want_ to talk to me about it?”

The way Maggie’s hand hesitated over the offered fries told her everything she needed to know.

“Look, Mags, we’ve been over this. You’ll tell me things when you’re ready. God knows I don’t tell you every time I talk to my sister.”

“Wasn’t that the night you came home and drank a $200 bottle?”

Lucy shoved a handful of fries into her mouth. “Yeah, but I didn’t _tell_ you that.”

“I’m a detective, I detect.”

“Eat your food and detect away, Sawyer. I’ll make sure Alex is free for the shitshow that dinner sounds like it’s gonna be.”

“You don’t wanna come?”

“I thought that was dessert _after_ the dinner and a show.”

Maggie shoved Lucy hard enough to smear ketchup all over her face. “I’m serious! I don’t… I don’t want you to feel left out of getting to know me… and my mistakes.”

“Maggie, you get to see my mistakes every day- I followed James out here, remember? Biggest mistake I’ll never regret, because it brought me to you two assholes. But I don’t need a front row seat if you’re not ready to hand me the backstage passes, okay? I’m perfectly happy with the Rotten Tomatoes.”

“You spend entirely too much time on the internet.”

Lucy wiped at the sauce on her face. “You love it.”

Maggie reached over and used her thumb to wick away a missed spot. Lucy nipped at her finger.

“Yeah, Lane,” Maggie laughed. “I kind of do.”

They continued their meal in silence, just the crinkle of wrappers and the scratch of napkins on skin.

“You could talk to me about it, you know,” said Maggie.

“About what?”

“Your sister.”

“There isn’t much to tell.” Lucy shrugged. “She never took Dad’s shit, walked out after a big blow up not long after Mom died. Dad didn’t want me getting “corrupted” by her alien-loving ways, and she didn’t want to try to get around him. I did everything I could to make him proud, _including_ send Alex to CADMUS. And then Kara came clean, I broke Alex out and sided with the offworlders. Lois and I… we’re trying. But there’s a lot of burned bridges and hurt feelings between us.”

“How are things with your dad?”

“The General is very disappointed in my path.” Lucy let out a slow breath. “He did ask me out for lunch before I left DC last. Had some cryptic warnings about CADMUS before I even realized they’d be the problem they are.”

“He’s still looking out for you… that’s good.” Maggie huffed. “We never did talk about Valentine’s Day.”

“When you’re ready.”

“I stuck a card admitting my feelings in my best friend’s locker,” Maggie said. She stared intently at the crumpled wrapper in her hand. “She showed it to her parents, who showed it to mine. You know what small towns in the Midwest are like.”

“Didn’t go well, I take it?”

“A bag of clothes was waiting outside the door for me, along with my very angry father.” Maggie’s jaw clenched. “My mother snuck me just enough money for a phone call and a bus ticket to my aunt’s.”

Lucy reached over and pried Maggie’s fingers open to slip her own in between. She leaned her weight into Maggie’s side. “Your aunt cool?”

“Yeah, she’s cool. Met me at the bus stop at 3am February the 15th and threw a jacket over my head because there wasn’t one in my bag.”

“See, I told you half-off day was better than any other holiday.”

Maggie made a face but didn’t disagree.

 

* * *

 

Nearly a full work day later, Lucy was no closer to sussing out J’onn’s secrets than she had been earlier. Not even Pam could tell her. She left HR feeling more frustrated than she had been in a while. Lucy walked into the main command to see Kara, Winn, and J’onn discussing something.

She supposed the secret really was out, if Kara wasn’t even pretending to be two people at the DEO anymore.

Constantly worrying Alex into shouting her given name would do that.

Lucy made a mental note to discuss briefing all level two agents on Supergirl’s identity, and adding NDA’s into their yearly paperwork.

“He wasn’t just any rogue alien,” said Winn.

“What’d I miss?”

“The alien Supergirl took on this morning. He’s from a race of alien bounty hunters called Amalaks,” said J’onn.

Alex walked in from the locker room. She came to stop beside Lucy and bumped her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, did you say bounty hunter?” asked Mon-El.

“Yep,” said Winn. “When the DEO was intaking your new monocular best friend, they found this.”

Winn sat the device in the center of the table and pressed a button. A miniature hologram of Supergirl popped up in her power pose, spinning slowly.

Kara grinned and pointed. “Hey, that’s me!”

Sometimes, Alex’s kid sister really reminded Lucy of a puppy.

Alex was more of a doberman, already frowning at the hologram, holding the Original Pose™. “What is it?”

“It’s an interplanetary messaging device,” J’onn replied.

“Are we talking instant messaging or more like a telegram?” Lucy asked. She poked at the figure, only to have her finger pass right through it.

“More like an encrypted smart phone,” said Winn. “It accesses some kind of alien darknet for all your shady space needs.”

“Is there a message?” Mon-El asked. His arms were folded. He leaned heavily on the table, his coffee mug leaving a ring on the very expensive, very high tech table.

Winn pressed play.

 _Name: Supergirl. The Last Daughter of Krypton. Location: National City, USA, Planet Earth. Three hundred quartz crowns upon proof of death_.

“Someone put a bounty on your head,” Lucy murmured.

J’onn crossed his arms and nodded.

“How… how much is three hundred quartz crowns?” Alex asked.

“A lot. Like enough to buy a planet,” said Mon-El.

“Oh, like, we’re talking like a planet in a good neighborhood? Or like, a hipster, up-and-coming kind of vibe?”

“ _Winslow Schott Junior,_ ” Lucy hissed.

“Exactly,” interrupted J’onn. “For that kind of bounty, every low-life killer in the universe will be headed this way to take their shot.”

Lucy pinched her nose, knowing any minute-”

“Oh that’s fine,” Kara said, spinning to walk away. “I’ll just take them out. One by one.”

Lucy’s Law and the goddamn Danvers Sisters.

Alex chased after her sister, arm outstretched. “Hey, hey. No, no, _no_. Wait, okay?”

Kara paused.

“Not that I doubt you, okay? But a series of battles with interstellar bounty hunters…” Alex brought her hands together pleadingly. “It doesn’t seem like a good way to ensure public safety.”

“Plus you’re unemployed,” Lucy added helpfully. “If we go over budget on clean up, you don’t have a salary for us to take it out of. Bye-bye potsticker fund.”

Alex glared at Lucy.

“ _Alex_ is right,” said J’onn. “I want you staying out of sight until we can figure out who is behind this.”

“Wait a second. You want me to hide?”

“Yes, Kara, that’s generally what ‘out of sight’ means,” said Lucy.

“Sometimes hiding is a strategic necessity,” Alex argued.

“And since you asked,” added Mon-El.

No one did.

“I, too, think you should hide,” he continued. “‘Cause I just lost you. Don’t really feel like losing you again.” He looked around for support. “‘Cause that would not be… palatable.”

That was almost sweet, were it not for the overly possessive tone and odd wording. Lucy frowned. Unpalatable wasn’t exactly the most emotional way to respond to a hit on your girlfriend’s life.

“Hey that’s a very culinary way to put that,” cheered Winn.

“I cook now,” replied Mon-El.

Lucy and Alex shared a look.

“I’m not going to hide. I’m the Girl of Steel. I don’t bend. I don’t break. I don’t stand down for anyone.”

“I know none of us can stop you if you choose to go out there,” said J’onn. “-But please, as the people who care about you, give us a day to get ahead of this thing.”

Lucy turned on her best puppy eyes. They had nothing on the Danvers’, but they were a force to be reckoned with even so. She knew Alex would do the same.

Kara sighed. “Fine. Okay! I’ll lay low for 24 hours.”

“Thank you,” said Lucy.

“Agent Schott,” J’onn ordered. “See if you can find a way to locate some more of those things. Maybe we can stop those bounty hunters before they strike. Agent Danvers, run a database search for other species who might be using this network.”

“Absolutely. Well, I had plans, but I’ll cancel.”

Lucy cocked an eyebrow. “No you won’t.”

“No. No. Don’t cancel your plans just to search databases,” Kara said. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Uh, these databases won’t search themselves,” J’onn said, pointing at his tablet.

“Actually they will, I just got to write a program for it,” corrected Winn. He fidgeted with the digital death note and chuckled. “And I just signed up for more work, didn’t I? Okay.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I’ll stick around and make sure that gets done. You two head out.”

Kara grinned and patted her sister on the shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”

Lucy winked at Alex.

J’onn glanced up from his tabled. “Mon-El?”

“Yeah?”

“Keep an eye on her.”

“I will,” Mon-El nodded.

Lucy should make it a point to meet Little Luthor at some point. She was willing to bet money the other woman could keep Kara in line much better than the Royal Space Cadet ever could.

 

* * *

 

“Alex, what are you doing back here?” Lucy asked.

“Winn called, said another bounty hunter came after Kara?”

“Yeah, and I’m going to have a bitch of a time explaining that repair bill to Theresa in Accounting.” Lucy threw her hands up. “For once your sister follows orders and it still goes ass side up. Speaking of, how was dinner?”

“Emily didn’t show.”

“Huh. I thought she would after she ran into us.”

Alex frowned. “What?”

“When Maggie and I were grabbing lunch. She tried to tear into Maggie, said Maggie was cheating on you or something. Didn’t Maggie talk to you?”

“No, she didn’t bring it up.”

Lucy shrugged. “I’m sure she will, she wasn’t ready to talk to me about whatever happened between them. C’mon, let’s get to holding.”

Lucy reveled in tugging Alex along by the hand through the halls of the DEO. It wasn’t the most professional thing she’d ever done, but neither J’onn nor Pam would write them up for anything short of getting caught with their hands down each other’s pants.

It beat the hell out of DADT that was for sure.

Winn was pacing in front of the cell holding a bald humanoid in a trench coat.

“Hey guys!” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, Creepy McGee here got inside Mon-El’s brain and thought he could use him to kill Supergirl.”

“That was optimistic on _so_ many counts,” Lucy smirked.

Alex elbowed her hard.

“Rude,” said Mon-El.

“Who put the bounty out on me?” Kara asked.

The man smirked.

“He knows,” said Alex. “You can tell he knows.”

“I’m the most powerful telepath in the Alcorian system,” the bounty hunter said smugly. “I know more than you can imagine.”

“Oh yeah?” Winn raised his hand, one finger up. “Except for the difference between a gun and a stapler.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows at Winn. She was so proud.

She also needed to get his ass certified to carry because one day he was going to get himself killed.

“You’ll never get me to talk.” He looked straight at Alex. “You humans are too moral to do what’s necessary to penetrate my mind.”

He looked at the wrong Danvers.

“Winn, get me a wrench.”

“Winn, don’t you dare-” Lucy pointed at him threateningly.

“Alex! Stand down!” J’onn called as he stepped around the corner. He made sure to step between Alex and the telepath, giving the other offworlder a look Lucy could have sworn came fresh out of Zoolander.

“Come at me, bro,” taunted the bounty hunter.

Watching two telepaths go at it was weird. Their eyes lit up and they looked like they needed to poop. Lucy took a step closer to Alex as the bounty hunter’s skull seemed to boil like something out of a horror movie.

He fell to the ground. “The… Daxamites. Queen Rhea placed the bounty…”

Kara was nice enough to look worried for Mon-El.

He was smart enough to look ashamed.

Kara’s family- Alex, J’onn, Winn, even Lucy herself, were very obviously not pleased with this turn of events.

Especially as the DEO was under orders not to engage.

 

* * *

 

“You know, for a second there, I actually believed them.”

“We’ll figure this out,” said Kara.

“I mean, how? I know them. In their minds, they honestly believe that if they get rid of you, then I’m just going to go back home.”

Lucy knew how it felt to have that kind of parent.

Podboy wasn’t invited to her other club, “Psychotic Parents Plus.” The General, Astra, and Winslow Senior were enough, thanks. Maybe Luthor could squeak in, but there was no room for frat boys.

“We need to retaliate.” Alex thought out loud. “I mean, if we strike back, we could force them to pull the bounty and leave Earth.”

“Absolutely _not_ , Danvers,” Lucy said, pinching Alex’s side.

“Uh, listen, I like revenge as just as much as the next geek but need I remind you that they have an impenetrable warship.”

“Well, Winn, you can find a way in,” said Kara.

“Or Mon-El could go back,” Lucy paused at the glares sent her way. “Long distance relationships are a thing.”

“Mr. Schott can’t,” said J’onn.

“I mean, I might be able to,” said Winn.

“No,” Lucy clarified. “You literally _cannot_. We’re under orders from the President herself.”

“We cannot take any action against the Daxamite ship whatsoever,” J’onn added.

“What?” Alex asked.

“Attacking them could spark an intergalactic war,” said J’onn.

“One we as a planet are not prepared to fight,” said Lucy.

“They attacked us,” Alex argued.

“I’ll brief the President and await her instructions. Until then, our only mission is to keep Supergirl safe.”

 

* * *

 

Alex all but dragged Lucy to her lab. As soon as the door shut behind them, Alex let her go and started pacing. “We have to do something, Luce.”

“We will. We’ll keep Kara safe until we have other options.”

“Luce-”

“Alex, I get it, okay? But _you cannot_ go off half-cocked on this one.”

Alex huffed. “I can’t protect Kara, I can’t give Maggie closure-”

Alex paused.

Lucy did not like the look on her face.

“I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“To who? Kara or Maggie?”

“Emily. She mentioned her hotel this morning.”

“Alex, _no_ . That’s- that is a _horrible_ idea.”

“She’s the reason Maggie has so many doubts, Lucy-”

“I’m pretty sure her parents are a bigger part of that, you know?”

“Yeah, but Emily was someone who _chose her_ and she told her she didn’t deserve to be happy, Lucy. Who does that?”

“Assholes,” Lucy agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you go confront them for her.”

“I’m not going to Nebraska to beat up her parents.”

“No, you just want to go downtown and beat up her ex.”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“Alex.”

“I’m serious. I’m just going to go there and let her know what she’s missing. She should hurt as bad as Maggie does.”

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, Danvers.”

“I’m Jewish, an eye for an eye is perfectly acceptable,” Alex deadpanned.

"Is this the part where I conveniently forget your 20 minute rant about fiduciary responsibility and purposeful misunderstandings propagated to defame your people?" Lucy snarked.

"It works for Christians."

Lucy pinched her nose. “Alex, I swear to god, if this goes badly-”

“I won’t just ghost like I did Valentine’s, I promise.”

Lucy stared at her girlfriend. Alex was shifting her jaw to the side and pursing her lips.

Her mind was made up.

“Fine, just… let me know how it goes, okay? And for god’s sake, talk to Maggie.”

Alex hugged Lucy and kissed her on the cheek. “I will! See you at home.”

“We don’t actually live together!” Lucy called out after her.

They didn’t.

Lucy just kept all her favorite clothes at Alex’s.

And Alex’s bed was more comfortable.

That didn’t mean they were living together.

 

* * *

 

Lucy curled up on the couch while Alex messed around in the kitchen. “How’d your really bad idea go?”

“Um. Could have been better. We’ll talk about it when Maggie gets here though.”

Lucy froze. “You haven’t talked to Maggie?”

“No.” Alex pulled down three glasses and poured whiskey into them. “But she’ll be here soon.”

“Yeah, but Alex, will she want _me_ here for whatever you’re blindsiding her with?”

“Relax, Lucy. We’re in this together, right?”

“The relationship sure.” Lucy waved her hand around. “You’re bad ideas? No. No you are definitely on your own for _all_ of them.”

“Gee thanks, Luce.”

A knock on the door was followed by the scratch of a key as Maggie let herself in. “Hey, Alex. What’s so urgent?”

Maggie tossed her keys on the tray next to the door and headed for the kitchen. She spotted the three glasses and looked around, finally spotting Lucy on the couch. “Hey, Luce.”

“Hey, Mags!”

“What are we doing here?” Maggie asked.

“No idea,” said Lucy.

“I went to see Emily,” said Alex.

“Uh, some idea,” corrected Lucy.

“What? Why?” Maggie frowned and glanced between them.

“Well, I wanted to go talk to her after seeing how upset you were at the restaurant. I went to stick up for you.”

“Let the record show I told her it was a bad idea,” said Lucy. She got up from the couch and wandered over to grab her drink.

“Alex…” Maggie looked away and ran her tongue along the inside of her cheek. Her biggest tell when she was annoyed or upset. “It’s not your problem to fix.”

Lucy sipped at her drink, wrapping her free hand around herself.  

Alex leaned against the counter. “You were never gonna really tell me that you cheated on her, were you?”

Maggie scoffed.

Lucy choked on her drink.

“That was a long time ago. I did a horrible thing. I didn’t… I didn’t think I was cheating on her, but she did, and I already feel bad about it. You want to bring it up so I can feel worse?” Maggie’s eyes glistened as she turned to walk away.

“No, no. No,” said Alex. “Look, this isn’t about whether or not you cheated.”

Maggie sank down onto the couch and put her head in her hands.

“We have all done dumb things. This is about the fact that you don’t trust me- trust _us-_ to tell us the truth.”

Lucy put her drink down. “Hey, hey. For the record, Alex, I didn’t ask.”

Lucy walked over and stood behind Maggie, resting her hands on Maggie’s shoulders. “Mags, we… you and I aren’t you and Alex, okay? So… if you need me to leave, just say the word.”

Maggie reached up and wrapped her hand over one of Lucy’s. “No, I… stay. I want you to stay.”

Lucy came around the other side of the couch, her hand drifting along Maggie’s shoulder as she walked. She claimed the tight space between Maggie and the arm of the couch, her arm still draped comfortingly over Maggie’s shoulders.

Alex came to sit on Maggie’s other side.

“I… wanted to tell you. To tell you both.”

“Listen. I’ve thought a lot about this,” Alex said, leaning in. “You have a pattern of keeping things to yourself. You hid the truth about Emily, you made her seem like the bad guy. And before that, you didn’t tell me about what really happened when you came out ot your parents. And how badly they reacted.”

Maggie pursed her lips and nodded. Lucy hugged her tighter.

“You don’t like to talk about you,” Lucy murmured.

“I know,” said Maggie.

“I think that when your parents didn’t accept you…” Alex paused. “You stopped trusting the people that are closest to you. And we _get_ that. But Maggie, you don’t have to be guarded with me. Or Lucy. We aren’t here to judge you for things that happened in the past. I’m- _we-_ are here to help you heal.” Alex reached up and caressed Maggie’s face.

“You don’t think I’m a bad person?”

“ _Never_ ,” said Lucy. “Group hug?”

Alex laughed and reached around to drag both of them in. “I actually thought you were perfect, Maggie, but it’s really nice to see that you have problems too.”

Lucy pulled back. “You thought she was perfect? What the hell did you think about me?”

Alex kissed Maggie’s cheek and waited to pull away until Maggie did. “I thought you had a napoleon complex.”

“She does,” Maggie muttered.

“And you both love it when I’m in control.”

Maggie chuckled a little as she pulled back and sank into the couch cushions between them. “Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s what we’re here for,” said Lucy. “For each other, I mean. Not for the awful habit the two of you share for taking C-4 to emotional walls. That sucks and you two need to stop.”

Lucy reached forward and brushed the hair out of Maggie’s eyes, tucking it behind her ear and lingering. “But Alex is right. You can trust us, Maggie. I’m not going anywhere, and Danvers is like a boomerang- even if she runs, she runs right back.”

“Hey!”

“I broke you out of CADMUS _and you came right back to the damn city full of mind control_.”

“Kara needed help,” Alex argued. “I’d have done the same for either of you.”

Maggie grinned and it almost reached her eyes. “That sounds like a story I need to hear.”

Alex opened her mouth but was interrupted by the sound of her phone. She pulled it out and glanced at it. “Sorry! Uh, it’s Kara. I…”

Maggie waved at the phone and cuddled into Lucy’s side.

“Hey. Hi....” Alex’s face dropped and she stood, already heading for her door. “What happened? Whoa, slow down, slow down. Are you okay?”

Lucy and Maggie shared a concerned look and sat up.

“Okay, I’m on my way,” Alex said as she hung up. She looked over at them. “Kara’s hurt. And something’s happened with Mon-El. I have to go to the DEO.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No, no. J’onn’s got this. You’ve pulled like 16 hours today, Lucy.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t far behind me.”

“But I’ve had days off,” said Alex. “I’ll call you if things change, okay?”

Lucy nodded slowly.

Alex hesitated and looked Maggie in the eye. “I’m… we’ll talk later. I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Maggie nodded.

The door shut behind Alex with a thud.

Lucy tilted her head to the side. “They’re going to do something stupid and she’s giving me plausible deniability.”

“Sounds about right.”

Lucy stood. “I need another drink. You in?”

“Please.”

 

* * *

 

“So,” Lucy swirled her glass around. “You mentioned you didn’t think you were cheating. Did you… do you want to talk about that?”

Maggie sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me shelve it?”

“Depends on whether or not I think you need to get it off your chest.”

“Dr. Danvers wasn’t enough couples therapy today?”

“I’m all about playing a different kind of doctor,” Lucy teased. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, I… it’s not that I don’t trust you, Luce. I’m just… I’m not used to this… working.”

“This meaning?”

“The three of us.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “So Emily…?”

Maggie sighed and leaned onto her crossed arms. “Emily was the longest relationship I’d ever had, yeah. But I… okay, so we talked about my parents. And that didn’t… go well. Them finding out I’m a lesbian. So I… kind of did everything I could to be gold star, you know, read the books, watched the horrible movies… did all the research while avoiding anything other than be the perfect lesbian, because if that’s why they were going to kick me out, I was going to be the best I could possibly be, you know?”

Lucy nodded.

“In college, I got out of the small town. There was a legit LGBT club. I joined in, I met people, I… I learned. And I started to explore things a little.”

“As one does, when they aren’t constrained by DADT,” Lucy nudged.

“Yeah. So. I meet Emily, right? And it’s going great. We’re together three, almost four years when I realized that I… was starting to have feelings for someone else. So I did the thing where I cut them out, I talked to Emily about it, she got mad… but I avoided the other woman and we made up. And then six months later, I start having feelings for someone else. Only… I didn’t want to talk to Emily about it. I loved her _so_ much, I just…” Maggie shrugged. “I thought something was wrong with me. I met up with one of the guys from the club just to talk it out, you know?”

Lucy nodded.

“I… He pointed me towards polyamory. As a possibility. Said I had a lot of love to give, and maybe, just maybe, it was on purpose, and not because I was wrong or, or broken.”

Lucy reached forward and dragged Maggie to her, resting Maggie’s head above Lucy’s heart. She cradled Maggie tightly to her.

“Emily didn’t take that well. I mean, I thought she was okay. She said if I needed to date other people… it was fine. It was whatever, because she knew I loved her and we were meant to be together.”

Lucy pressed a kiss into Maggie’s hair and hummed.

“Turns out, not so much. I uh, told her after I got serious with someone. More serious faster than I intended.”

“You’d slept with her.”

“Yeah.” Maggie laughed wetly. “Emily started screaming all these things. That I was a sociopath for leading her on, for purposefully hurting her. That I didn’t deserve to be happy if it caused everyone around me pain.”

“She sounds like a bitch.”

“I hurt her,” Maggie shrugged.

“You thought you’d been communicating,” Lucy shrugged. She tilted Maggie’s face up. “You’ve gotten much better at communicating, as long as it isn’t about yourself.”

“You’re one to talk, Lane.”

Lucy frowned. “Yeah. Holdover, I guess. We’ll both have to work on that.”

Maggie nodded, burying her face into Lucy’s chest.

Lucy let herself relax into Alex’s couch.

If the world exploded or Alex was arrested for treason, someone would call. For now, she had Maggie in her arms, wrapped up safe in their other girlfriend’s apartment.

 

* * *

 

Lucy goosed Alex while they waited by the car for Maggie.

“What was that for?”

“Defying orders.”

“It’s Kara.”

“I know. That’s why you’re not in prison _on principle_.”

Alex rubbed at her behind. “You’d do it for me.”

“I’d _come up with a real plan first_.”

“We didn’t have time.”

Lucy nodded, her eyes on the hotel door. “Yeah. For you, I’d break the rules. For him? I’d send a space telegram.”

Alex snorted. “You really hate him.”

“ _My father_ makes a better in-law than his parents.”

“You’re gonna judge him by his parents?”

“Oh, no. I’m judging him by his own idiot actions. You know he wanted to run away with her like Romeo and Juliet?”

Alex frowned. “They die at the end.”

“I _know_.” Lucy snorted. She glanced back at the tinted windows of Maggie’s Charger. Then glanced at the hotel. She looked at Alex. “So. They might still be a while.”

Alex raised an eyebrow.

“We haven’t had sex in a car yet.”

“Lucy, that’s _illegal_ in a regular car, _this one’s government property_.”

“Yeah, it’s not as comfortable as a DEO SUV, but I’m sure we can manage.”

“Oh my god. _No_.” Alex shoved Lucy. “What is with you and your little exhibitionist streak?”

“I think you’d look really hot wearing nothing but the glow of passing headlights?” Lucy offered with an innocent grin.

“You’re _the worst_ ,” Alex muttered. Her ears were bright red, her cheeks just starting to blush. She refused to look at Lucy, perking up at something by the hotel doors. “Hey, there they are.”

Lucy looked over. Maggie and her ex glanced at them with small smiles. Lucy and Alex waved.

“They look… okay, right?” Alex asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, no. They look much better than they did at lunch,” Lucy grinned. “They’re still talking though. Probably not enough time for sex, but we could totally make out for a bit.”

“ _Lucy_ ,” Alex hissed.

Maggie and Emily hugged. It was awkward, but it wasn’t stiff. They were even smiling as they said their goodbyes, and Maggie was clearly much happier when she made her way to them.

“Good talk, Sawyer?”

“Great talk, Lane.” Maggie’s smile was all dimples. “Thank you for making me do that.”

Lucy grinned. “You guys talk about us at the end there?”

Maggie nodded. “She said I was lucky to have you two.”

Alex smirked and nodded playfully. “She’s right.”

Alex reached forward and tugged at Maggie’s scarf to pull her in for a quick kiss.

“What, I can’t get a quickie in the car, but you can just smooch away?” Lucy teased.

Maggie wrapped her arm around Lucy and pulled her in for a much longer kiss. “No sex in the cop car. But if you behave, we can discuss the handcuffs when I get home.”

Lucy grinned wildly before dimming it down a notch. Her eyes darted between her girlfriends. “So, uh, what… exactly… constitutes behaving?”


	18. Episode 18: Safety Net

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy has some wonderful news for her girls, Alex has a revelation, and then Lucy picks out a new friend after work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Don't forget to swing by my peeps to let them know how awesome they are! @letswreckhavoc, @salamadersaurus-rex, and @freakykaethe!

****

****

****

 

**Episode 18: Safety Net**

Thursday morning knife practice. It was a thing they’d started last year, mostly as a competition, but also to work out the issues between them after Myriad. More recently, Lucy had come to see practice as something worth looking forward to.

Okay, maybe not that recently. Pinning or getting pinned by Alex Danvers, sweaty and competitive, was hardly a hardship. Ever.

Lucy would never admit to willingly getting pinned occasionally. Even if it was true.

But the fun part of being in a relationship meant that sometimes their competition came with a side of inappropriate bets.

Sometimes they were appropriate, like laundry day.

They usually weren’t.

“Someone’s getting tied up after work today,” Lucy panted. “Hint: won’t be me.”

“But you’d look so pretty in that red ribbon,” Alex grinned, diving forward.

Lucy spun out of the way, flipping her knife in the air and catching it easily. “I have heels I can wear to dinner if you wanna see me wrapped up in ribbon, sweetcheeks.”

Alex leapt for her, and Lucy might have gotten distracted enough by the tension in Alex’s thighs to get pinned to the ground. She wrapped a leg around Alex’s hips and rolled them over, pinning Alex’s knife hand to the ground with her free one. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Alex flipped them over again. “You’re not winning this.”

“I’m pretty sure I win either way,” Lucy laughed. “But I’d much rather see you in cuffs.”

“Is that why you had me arrested?” Alex panted, breaking away. “For kicks?”

“Kinks,” Lucy smirked.

Alex rolled her eyes and moved to put Lucy into a half-nelson.

Lucy flipped it, wrapping herself around Alex and putting her knife to her throat. “I win.”

Alex groaned.

Lucy tossed the knife, but didn’t climb down. “You won’t complain tonight, Danvers.”

Alex tossed her shoulders, shaking Lucy. “Get off.”

“I make you fly,” Lucy crowed. “Call me jetpack!”

Alex snorted and hopped, adjusting Lucy’s legs around her waist and hiking her up farther. “You’re a nut.”

“Your nut.”

“Yeah,” Alex grinned. “Yeah you are.”

Lucy wrapped her arms tighter around Alex’s neck, leaning forward a bit to lick the sweat drop sliding down behind Alex’s ear.

Alex shuddered, swallowing loud enough for Lucy to hear. “Behave, Major.”

“I am behaving.”

“Behave _appropriately_ for a workplace.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I’m lots of fun,” Alex said. She shifted her weight. “Showers?”

“Yes, please!”

“ _Separately_.”

“Boo.”

 

* * *

 

Collecting the bet would have to come later, but a slow day and a conveniently located apartment certainly made for an entertainingly long lunch.

Lucy’s eyes dragged up Maggie’s back as she slid back into her slightly wrinkled clothes. “This was much better than that food truck.”

Maggie snorted. “I’m going to starve before dinner.”

“We’re going to starve _during dinner_ ,” Alex groaned. “Lucy wants to go fancy.”

“Lucy wants to show her girls off. Is that such a crime?” Lucy asked.

Alex tied up her boots, still shirtless. “It should be. Charging those prices for tiny snacks.”

Lucy laughed. “We’ll grab burgers after or something. I want to see you dressed up for me, and I’ll get you the best whiskey in town.”

“What do I get out of it?”

“A sure thing, Sawyer,” Lucy drawled. “And if you play along, Alex lost a bet this morning, so I might just let you _play along_.”

Maggie paused, halfway in her jacket. “What kind of bet?”

“The kind that might get us a noise complaint,” Lucy grinned.

Alex’s ears flushed, she kept her back to them as she slid back into her black polo. “I hate you both. Mrs. Gunderson cornered me in the elevator last time to discuss how happy she is that I met someone who can make _me_ so happy she can hear it without her hearing aids.”

Lucy and Maggie bit their lips and tried not to laugh.

They failed miserably.

“It’s not funny! She spent twenty minutes discussing the _good old days_ when she had that kind of fun!”

“That’s… oh my god. That’s… Isn’t that the lady on three?” Lucy gasped.

Alex turned around and made a face. “Apparently we left a window open.”

Lucy didn’t even pretend to fall off the bed on purpose, gasping for air as she shook with laughter, tears welling in her eyes. Maggie was a little more composed, actually dressed, but still snickering as she slid her belt back on.

Alex was less amused. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s a job well-done, really,” Maggie smirked. “So long as I don’t get someone from the local precinct knocking on the door again.”

“Sawyer landed _two_ hot chicks, how is that rumor a bad one?” Lucy asked wiping at her eyes.

“The part where I was covering marks from the cuffs last time,” Maggie snorted.

Lucy grinned. That was a good night. She glanced over at Alex. “You need some help there, Danvers?”

Alex seemed to be having difficulty getting her thigh holsters in place. She hopped around harder. Flipping Lucy the bird didn’t exactly help matters.

“Are you gonna get dressed, Lane?”

Lucy got up from the floor, still gloriously naked. She let her girls’ eyes drift along the lines of her body for a moment. “Nah. Took the rest of the day off to prep for tonight.”

Alex and Maggie shared a pointed look.

Alex finally managed to get her uniform settled. “So what was the urgency?”

“What, for lunch?” Lucy shrugged, her grin turning decidedly lusty. “I wasn’t hungry for food.”

Maggie snickered. “Right, I gotta go. See you at the restaurant tonight?”

“Yep.”

Maggie stepped carefully around the clothing Lucy left lying around and kissed her goodbye before doing the same for Alex. Alex begrudgingly kissed Lucy on her way out, her ears only flushing a little when Lucy called her back to grab her badge.

If Lucy stood bare-assed in the sunlight streaming through Alex’s giant windows specifically for that reaction, she’d never tell.

 

* * *

 

Lucy sat in the restaurant waiting for her girls. She’d dressed to the nines in an outfit that cost more than she was willing to admit, five-inch heels and all. She’d made a special trip to her favorite boutique and sacrificed comfort for lace and watching Alex and Maggie’s brains explode later. Her dress left _just_ enough to the imagination to still count as classy, her lipstick the deepest shade of red.

Tonight wasn’t any more special than every night she shared with her girls, not really. But she’d gotten news from DC that her position was becoming permanent now that she was finally getting her next pin. As a Major, that had always been a risk, even with her father’s prominence.

She was staying in National City for good, with the exception of budget season and being called to Washington.

The atmosphere was perfect for celebrating. Just enough lighting, tables spaced far enough apart for the noise to be a dull murmur buzzing over the quiet instrumentals. She’d arranged for a circular booth in the back and placed herself dead center, leaving room on either side for Maggie and Alex.  

She checked her phone. She’d told them to meet her 30 minutes later than their reservation time. Alex would be early, Lucy had checked in with J’onn to ensure the day had been slow. Maggie was a wild card, but she’d been complaining about paperwork all day, even after their lunchtime shenanigans.

Lucy had only been there for five minutes before they walked in together, not holding hands, just standing close to each other. They followed the hostess to their table, and Lucy’s jaw dropped. They hadn’t had much chance for fancy dates, and Lucy had never seen Maggie in a dress with that many cut outs hinting at her wiry frame. Alex was in a longer number, the slinky fabric shimmering with every step, her hair brushing her eyes.  

Lucy scooted out of the booth to greet them, pleased that she was still chin-height on Alex even in heels of her own, and now slightly taller than Maggie. She greeted them both with a hug and a kiss to the cheek, not missing the way they took their time taking her in.

The hostess disappeared discreetly while they got themselves situated, only to have a server appear the moment they were seated and holding hands under the table.

“Welcome, ladies. My name is Devon and I’ll be your server tonight. Have you had a chance to review our wine list? I can offer a few suggestions, or our sommelier would be more than happy to assist you.”

“That won’t be necessary. We’ll have the ‘82 Chateau Gruaud Larose, thank you.”

The server’s eyes lit up. His smile became more real. “Fantastic choice, ma’am. I’ll be back with it shortly.”

“Lucy, these menus don’t have prices on them,” Alex hissed.

“That’s okay, I’m getting dinner.”

“I’ve never been somewhere that didn’t list prices,” Maggie cocked her head. “Do I want to know how much that bottle cost?”

“We’re celebrating.”

“That’s a no,” said Maggie.

“What are we celebrating?” asked Alex.

“My promotion’s coming through,” Lucy grinned. “And my position’s permanent. No more risk of being replaced… so long as we keep the world from ending.”

Alex let out a sound that she’d never admit was dangerously close to a squeal. “Lucy!”

Lucy was sandwiched between her girls, the feel of lips pressed into the skin of either side of her neck as they squeezed her tight. She basked in the feeling, knowing it was hers to keep now, so long as they all kept each other as a priority.

Their server came back, accompanied by the sommelier, who carefully opened the bottle and poured a taste for Lucy. She swirled and sniffed, taking a small sip and drawing air over the liquid coating her tongue. The smooth finish lingered on her tongue.

She nodded and handed her glass back to be filled.

Their glasses poured, he emptied the bottle into a decanter to breathe and bowed slightly before disappearing with the empty bottle.

Their server clapped his hands quietly. “Have you ladies decided what you’d like to have tonight? I’d recommend something heavier, perhaps the filet mignon?”

Maggie’s eyes dropped to the menu, scanning it briskly. “I’ll have the Cauliflower and Crab ravioli.”

“Chilean Sea Bass, please,” added Lucy.

Alex hesitated.

Lucy nudged her. “Feel like a steak tonight, Danvers?”

Alex quirked an eyebrow.

“She’ll have the filet,” said Lucy. She waited for their server to leave with their menus. “And you won’t complain about price or try to fight me for the check later either.”

“I don’t think my savings could take the hit,” Alex murmured. “Not on top of sister nights.”

“I’m a cop,” Maggie shrugged. “I work hard for what I’ve got, but I’m not gonna complain if you wanna spend some of that sweet fed money on me.”

Lucy laughed and sipped at her wine. She shook her head and glanced around the restaurant, checking the exits again. “Get it, Luthor.”

“What? Where?” Alex asked.

“Three o’clock. Looks like Little Luthor’s got a date.”

“Jack Spheer,” Alex offered. “He’s doing amazing work in biomedical and nanites. And apparently, he’s Luthor’s ex.”

“You’re full of information tonight, Danvers.”

“Maggie, Kara’s been complaining to me since she met him.”

“Sounds like Kara’s a little jealous,” Lucy laughed. “With good reason. Brains and beauty? On top of his own money? Sounds like a catch.”

“Excuse me?”  her girlfriends chorused.

“No reason to be jealous, ladies. I have brains and beauty right here.” Lucy paused. “And Maggie.”

“Hey!”

“You I keep for the abs and the handcuffs. Which we’ll be needing later.”

Alex choked on her wine.

Maggie laughed and took a sip of her own. “Hey, this is _nice_.”

“I should hope so.”

Their food arrived, and their conversation was interrupted with only the clink of silverware.

 

* * *

 

“You know, I was mostly kidding about Kara being jealous.”

“Mm?” Alex hummed.

“She, uh, doesn’t seem to realize this place has a dress code. Or a reservation policy.”

Alex and Maggie followed her eyes to the trainwreck that was Kara and her podboy so obviously crashing Luthor’s date. It was awkward, it was inappropriate, but the looks and smiles shared by Lena and Kara were borderline romance novel.

“Luthor looks like she wants something else for dinner,” Maggie snickered.

“What are you talking about?”

“Alex, honey, there is no heterosexual explanation for all of,” Lucy waved at the party of four, “that.”

“I-”

Alex cut herself off as Lena leaned into Kara, the biggest smile on her face. Her fork hovered over her plate, forgotten, as she watched her sister glare at her best friend’s date.

Lucy shared a knowing glance with Maggie.

Maggie’s lips twitched as she watched the journey on Alex’s face. “You okay there, Danvers?”

“Shit.”

“There we go,” said Lucy.

“Kara… I thought Kara was straight?”

“Your sister is _literally_ an _alien_ , Danvers.” Lucy tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Do they even have the concept of sexuality? Because that would explain _a lot_ about Jimmy and Clark.”

“I should have seen this coming,” said Alex as she shook her head. “I mean. Everyone falls in love with her, she doesn’t recognize flirting, like _at all_ , but…”

“But?” Maggie asked.

“When you came to town, Lucy,” a small smile graced Alex’s face. “I thought she was joking. She wouldn’t shut up about you. Lucy _this_ and Lucy _that_ , James and Lucy _blah blah blah_. I thought it was about James. I didn’t realize she wasn’t kidding when she joked about wanting to date you.”

Lucy hummed. “I don’t think I could take _that_ much of a morning person in my bed, you’re bad enough.”

“Lucy!”

“C’mon, Danvers. Supergirl is just as big of a lesbian fantasy as Luthor is,” Maggie laughed.

“That is my _sister_ ,” Alex hissed.

“Your sister who is lingering in that hug,” Lucy teased.

“I hate you both.”

“Liar,” Lucy and Maggie sang.

 

* * *

 

She left consoling Kara to Alex. They needed to have several talks, all of them important, and they needed to be on their own to do it.

It couldn’t be easy, watching your best friend choose between you and her ex.

Normally Lucy would bother Maggie, or, since Maggie had a night shift, Vasquez, but she had more important things to handle.

While Kara had had one hell of a night, Lucy could only imagine how bad Luthor’s must have been. Paperwork in hand, she flashed her badge at the security desk and kept walking, expecting Security to follow.

They did.

The goon they sent with her was smart enough to key in the code for the top floor before he stood a little too close.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She strode forward the moment the doors opened, heading right past the empty assistant’s desk and to Luthor’s office, the security guard trailing behind.

“Hold on, Major, I’ll need to clear it with Ms. Luthor.”

Lucy ignored him, shoving the doors open.

She’d never seen Lena Luthor so unprofessional. Tabloids would pay out the nose for a shot of her in sweats, a half-empty bottle of something expensive next to her. Luthor stared up at the intruders blankly.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Luthor, she-”

“My name is Major Lucy Lane. I work with Supergirl. I need your statement about tonight’s events.”

“I gave my statement to the police.”

“Yes. I need the real one,” said Lucy.

Luthor waved her hand at the guard. “Thank you, Anthony, I have it from here.”

Anthony hesitated at the door, but ultimately closed it behind her.

“Any relation to General Lane?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I’m familiar with that feeling,” said Luthor. “I already told him L-Corp is no longer working in fields he’s interested in.”

“I could have sworn it was more along the lines of telling him to go fuck himself,” Lucy grinned. She approached slowly.

“Then what is it you need to know, Major?”

Lucy slid into the seat in front of Luthor’s desk without asking. “I need to know why you saved Supergirl.”

“She was innocent in this.”

“So was Mr. Spheer,” said Lucy. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Luthor nodded and took another swallow of her drink. She stared at her hands for minutes, but Lucy was willing to wait. “Why do you need to know?”

“Supergirl believes in you. I’m inclined to follow her lead.” Lucy paused. She reached forward and slid the bottle away from Luthor before she could refill her glass. “I need to know if I need to hand you the file that promises a government sponsored trip to a dark hole like your brother, or if I can add a contractor agreement to the pile.”

“A contractor agreement.”

“There’s a few projects Agents Danvers and Schott could use a hand with, if you have the interest.”

“Danvers. She saved my life.”

“And you saved hers. Helps me think you’re not like your family.” Lucy snorted. “That’s a feeling I can relate to.”

“If I refuse to answer?”

“Luthor.”

“Supergirl is a symbol of hope, and the city’s last defense against interstellar threats. Jack was… misguided and trusted the wrong person. He wanted to save the world, Supergirl regularly _does_.” Luthor drained her glass. “Besides. As important as Jack was to me, Kara Danvers means that much more.”

“Yeah, I figured when she crashed your date.”

Luthor froze. “You were watching me?”

Lucy slid the NDAs and the contractor agreement over the desk. “Nope. I was on my own date, but it’s kind of hard not to notice my girl’s kid sister ignoring the dress code alongside her tag along.”

Luthor blinked. “I thought her sister was dating a cop- the woman who arrested me.”

“Mmhmm. We both are. And each other.”

“That’s modern.”

“We live in a small world, Ms. Luthor. I dumped my ex and he started dating Kara a hot minute later… and then she dumped his ass.”

“James Olsen.”

“Former tag along of Superman and my sister, yes.”

Luthor winced. “Nemesis of my brother.”

“One and the same.” Lucy shrugged again, offering a small smile. “Our worlds are tiny, Luthor, but if you’re really Kara’s friend, we don’t hold too many grudges, usually. Kara’s still a little pissed at Maggie for arresting you, I think.”

Luthor snorted. She skimmed the contracts and signed the NDAs. “What kind of projects?”

“Red Sun Lamps, for one. Helps with training Supergirl, and for check ups.”

“Is it as dangerous as Kryptonite?”

“Makes her almost human, but the effects wear off almost immediately upon exposure to yellow sun. We also have some sun grenades that need refining.”

Lena signed off on the contract without reading it.

“Don’t you want your lawyer to look that over?”

“Do I get access to the DEO to work on them with your team?”

“With supervision, yes.”

“And does that access allow me to check on Supergirl if she’s hurt?”

Lucy tilted her head. “It certainly could.”

“Then I’m in, Major Lane.”

“How long have you known, anyway?”

Luthor shrugged. She stood up to retrieve a second glass and drop a cube of ice in it. She poured them both a drink. “The first thing I did, after taking over, was dig through everything the government left behind. All of my brother’s hidden files, all the projects I could find and destroy, all of it. Lex knew she existed, but not who she was, Clark was smart enough to never name his cousin, even if they were like brothers. And Lex was so obsessed with Clark he let it go. But then she showed up in my office with Clark.”

“Why haven’t you told her you know?”

“I let her be Kara,” Luthor paused. “I think she needs that. Plus, it’s not like a Luthor is given the space to gush about *NSYNC.”

“Oh, god. Your taste is as awful as hers.”

Luthor smiled sadly. “She’ll tell me when she’s ready. Or she won’t. It stings, and I worry, I won’t lie. But, Major-”

“Call me Lucy.”

“Lena, then.” Lena nodded. “I’m no stranger to secrets. But for once, I understand why she’s keeping it. I am a Luthor, after all.”

“Oh, I doubt that’s true.” Lucy shook her head and took a drink. “She’s only ever told me and Winn, I think. And she only told me because she needed my help to get her sister back after I had her accused of treason and shipped off to CADMUS before it went private.”

Lena’s eyes widened.

“Alex has interesting taste- both of the women who’ve pissed off Kara by endangering the women she cares about most,” Lucy snorted. She waved her hand. “But that’s a long story. While we’re bonding, I’ve been meaning to run into you and invite you to something, if you’re up for it.”

“More than the secret government building on 42nd?”

Lucy blinked. “You… probably shouldn’t know that. Whatever. No. Much more important. Alex and I started a club for the kids in the shadow of their sibling and the crushing disappointment of their parents. ‘Second Best Sisters Club.’”

“You and Agent Danvers? Is it a club when you’re dating?”

“It was a club before we were dating. Alex and I needed to get out heads out of our asses.” Lucy shrugged. “I just got word my stay here is permanent. I need more friends.”

“I have two friends who don’t know I know they’re the same person.” Lena crossed her eyes.

“Great! We meet at a dive bar on second,” Lucy handed her card over. “When you’re up for it, text me and we’ll set up a time.”

“Agent Danvers will be okay with that?”

Lucy collected her paperwork. “Oh, I’ll make sure she behaves. She’s recently had some new revelations, so she might give you a shovel talk.”

“What? Kara and I are just friends.”

“I got a shovel talk when Kara and I were _always_ _only_ friends. Kara is a Danvers, and as such, pretty oblivious. Like, _really_ oblivious.” Lucy offered her hand. “You’re gonna have to make the first move, I think. And by first move, I mean more obvious than an office full of flowers.”

“More obvious.”

“Maybe sharpie a love note on your forehead, near those pretty eyes. Or, actually, your boobs have more real estate.”

“Major-”

“Sorry, sorry. Happily taken. I just noticed Kara’s eye drifting the other night.”

“I don’t know if I want to be friends with you.”

“You have excellent taste in scotch, I want to be friends with _you_. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

Lucy waved jauntily, already halfway out the door. “Thanks for the drink! Text me! And go home, for god’s sake, it’s like two a.m.!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's a little shorter, but the next one, if you haven't read it already, is an absolute monster. It should post in the next couple of days, the remastering is complete, we just need time for Kris to make her awesome action adventure movie gifs for 19. See you soon!


	19. Episode 19: Safety Line Snapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex goes missing, and a face from the past holds her life in his hands. Kara, Lucy, and Maggie race against time to save the most important person in their lives. 
> 
> aka
> 
> Remastered _Three Times a Sinking Man_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, superduper thanks to [@letswreakhavoc](http://letswreakhavoc.tumblr.com), [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com), and [@freakykaethe](http://freakykaethe.tumblr.com) for all their amazeballs work at helping me make this a reality.

 

 

 

 

 

**Episode 19: Safety Line Snapped**

Lucy made it a point to work overnight shifts at the desert base when Kara was bringing her boyfriend to dinner. Maggie was still too new to the dynamic to say anything to Kara, and Alex was still feeling guilty for encouraging it in the first place. Really, it was in everyone’s best interest if Lucy skipped those dinners, because a dead alien was just _so_ much paperwork and hiding the body kind of went against the codes of law enforcement.

She wasn’t exactly surprised to get a text from Maggie that things didn’t go well. The DEO had the benefit of Supergirl’s sister kicking her ass in the green room to teach her at least a few protocols, the NCPD did not. And honestly, after 17 hours of negotiating just to have Supergirl blow out a wall? Lucy would be a little frustrated too.

It didn’t even surprise her that Alex wasn’t home when she dragged herself in at six in the morning, just as Maggie was making coffee. It wasn’t unusual for Alex to spend the night with Kara after someone had a disagreement.

What was unusual was Maggie calling to wake her up a scant few hours later, her voice tinged with panic. “Someone has Alex.”

Lucy’s eyes shoot open, “What are you talking about, Sawyer?”

“Someone has Alex. I went to check with Kara when Winn said she didn’t come into work today--Lucy, she never met up with Kara last night. I should have- I should have texted her or gone with her, if I hadn’t picked a fight with Kara-”

“Maggie, no. None of this is your fault, okay? I’m getting dressed, okay, just, just calm down and walk me through what you know.”

“She, she told me not to wait up when she left. That Kara’s as stubborn as I am,” Maggie took a deep, shuddering breath. “I didn’t think anything of it when I fell asleep without hearing from her. I woke up, had coffee with you, sent her a good morning text. Then Winn called and I… I realized something was wrong, so I went to talk to Kara.”

The phone was sandwiched between her head and her shoulder. Lucy reached up to switch it to the other shoulder while she hopped into her tac pants. “Okay, so what happened next, Mags?”

“Kara was still mad at me. But, you know, Alex. Then a call came through from Alex’s phone. It wasn’t Alex.”

“Who was it, Maggie?”

“We don’t, we don’t know. They sent a picture of Alex. They know Kara’s Supergirl and they want her to free some guy from prison or… or…”

“Maggie. Are you on your way to the DEO?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be there soon. Hang tight, Detective Dimples, we’ll figure out who’s got her and how to find her. It’s what we do.”

“Be careful, Lucy.”

“See you soon, Maggie.”

 

* * *

 

It doesn’t take long for Lucy to slip into yesterday’s tac gear and her belt. Normally, this time of day, Alex’s apartment was half an hour from the city office.

Lucy made it in fifteen.

Still wiping sleep from her makeup-free eyes, she waltzes into the command center and is completely unsurprised to see everyone huddled. It’s Alex. Hell, if Lucy hadn’t left Vas in charge of the desert base, she was sure the other agent would be front and center trying to track this guy down with Winn.

Maggie, J’onn, and Mon El leaned on the table while Kara paced. Lucy slid in between the agents until she could take her place next to the boy wonder, where Maggie could see her, but far enough away to maintain some semblance of professionalism. Even if they were both terrified.

Lucy was glad to see Maggie had her cop face on, at least, even if she still looked upset. Lucy already had to worry about Kara going off the rails.

“So this person who says they kidnapped Alex, what _exactly_ did they say on the call?” J’onn asked.

“He said he would kill Alex if I didn’t break Peter Thompson out of Albatross Bay, he said he _knows_ Kara Danvers is Supergirl,” Kara took a deep breath. “He’s targeting Alex because she’s my sister.”

“This might be stating the obvious here, but why don’t we just spring Peter Thompson and bring Alex home?”

“The DEO does not negotiate with terrorists,” J’onn said.

“But this is _Alex_ ,” said Mon El.

And Lucy had to give him some credit. He was an ass, spoiled and completely not good enough for Kara, but sometimes his heart was in the right place. It probably helped that even he realized how important Alex was to Kara, that she came before even him.

Even rocks can learn to float, apparently.

“If we do it once,” J’onn said, “We’ll open the flood gates. Every bad guy will know that Supergirl can be controlled.”

“And even if we do what he wants, there’s no guarantee he’ll release her.”

Lucy watched Maggie’s face as she spoke. Maggie’s cop face was calm. Her voice, though, held a slight tremble. So slight, she and maybe Winn were probably the only humans to pick up on it. Lucy noticed that Kara was still keeping her distance from Maggie, even as she passed by Lucy in her pacing and offered a tight smile.

Kara did, at least, look at Maggie when she continued with “She’s his insurance.”

J’onn stood up. “Alright people, let’s get to work!”

Maggie dropped her head as the other agents turned away from them and headed to do whatever digging and tracing of Alex’s steps they could. Lucy glanced around, found Winn, and took quick steps to reach his side. “Any luck, Schott? What about Alex’s tracker?”

Winn shook his head, “No, it’s been offline since ten o’clock last night, whoever took her… must have found some way to power it down.”

“Shit.”

“Where are we in triangulating the phone call?” J’onn asked.

“Yeah, nowhere.” Winn’s hand made frantic motions this way and that.”The caller used four different arrays to scramble the signal. You guys, listen, we, we gotta move.”

Lucy looked between Alex’s surrogate baby brother and Maggie, who was drooping over the table, blaming herself. Kara, Kara stood tall with a stubborn set to her chin and Mon El at her back. She’d be fine, for now. It was Maggie she worried about.

Lucy made her way back to the table, this time close enough to nudge Maggie with her hip. Her hands braced against the tabletop, her pinky just close enough to brush Maggie’s. “Okay, let’s start with what we do know. If that guy knows you’re Supergirl, let’s use that to our advantage.”

“Well that’s gotta be a short list. Who knows your secret?”

Lucy snorted. Maggie snorted. Lucy’s pretty sure that every agent within hearing distance snorted. J’onn just had a face of stone and years of being a dad to prevent himself from doing the same.

“Uhhh Jeremiah, Eliza, Clark, the DEO, Lillian Luthor…”

 _Cat Grant. Lena Luthor (not that Lucy was stupid enough to point that out around Alex). Every food delivery person within a 15 mile radius of Kara’s apartment, the staff of at least seven food trucks, anyone who’d ever seen Kara eat_ , the list really went on and on. Lucy regularly had lunch with Pam, Kara’s “secret” was the worst-kept since Alex’s sexuality, and really, was it anyone’s fault that obliviousness could apparently be passed on by years of close contact with a brick wall? She wondered sometimes, which of the Danvers sisters rubbed off on whom.

“Does Peter Thompson have ties with CADMUS?” Maggie asked.

“No, I already checked. There’s nothing.” Winn said.

“Then you’re asking the wrong question. We don’t _know_ where Alex was taken, we don’t _have_ a crime scene, we don’t have _any_ physical evidence. They’ve _clearly_ been planning this for a while. Whoever took Alex is a ghost who doesn’t wanna be found.”

“Then what’s the right question?!”

Lucy shared a look with Maggie before looking at a clearly frustrated Supergirl in Kara Danvers’ clothing. “Who is Peter Thompson?”

“And what does he mean to our ghost?” Maggie finished.

They broke apart to do their own thing. Kara and her boyfriend went off to the bar to check if anyone heard anything. Winn turned back to his computer, typing away at some algorithm he was probably designing from scratch to enhance any facial recognition search he was running to see if it could be improved.

Maggie allowed Lucy to drag them both to Alex’s office. She stayed stiff and unyielding even as Lucy held her tighter. “It’s not your fault, Mags.”

“I fought with Kara. I’m the reason she left.”

Lucy pulled back so she could look into Maggie’s eyes, dark and heavy with guilt. Lucy reached up hesitantly to tuck the hair behind Maggie’s ear and cup her face. That was always Alex’s move, and Lucy, secure as she had begun to feel between them, wasn’t sure how it would be received.

Maggie leaned into it, allaying her fears. Her eyes closed, her head resting heavy in Lucy’s hand. The next breath was shuddering, even as Maggie refused to cry.

“It’s not your fault, Maggie. You said it yourself, whoever this is has been planning this. If he couldn’t grab her then he would have done it later, when she went to grab coffee or on her way to sister night… there’s nothing you did that caused this.”

Maggie’s jaw twitched as she grinds her teeth. “I can’t lose her, Lucy.”

“You won’t. _We_ won’t.”

“Fuck, I’m, I’m sorry Luce, you’re right, she’s not just-”

“Hey, hey, look at me, okay?” Lucy whispered. “She is ours, and we are going to find her. Carefully, because I can’t lose either one of you, okay?”

Maggie nodded and shifted to press her forehead against Lucy’s. They gripped hands tightly, just breathing each other in.

 

* * *

 

Lucy didn’t go to Albatross Bay. She wanted to, god, she wanted to. But J’onn was right. Somehow, someone had watched them so closely they were able to predict that Maggie and Kara would fight, that Alex would go after her sister alone. Someone had watched Alex, and watched the rest of them, for entirely too long and entirely too well without even the mind reading Martian detecting them.

She’d be embarrassed if she weren’t so terrified for Alex.

So she stayed behind while J’onn, Maggie, and Kara headed to Albatross Bay, even as the tension between Kara and Maggie continued to build. She worried about them. Lucy may have come into this relationship late, may have a minefield to navigate when it came to Alex and Maggie’s issues on top of her own, but at least Kara knew her, loved her. Maggie broke Alex’s heart, then, as far as Kara was concerned, stole Alex from her. The truce between Kara and Maggie was tenuous at best, and the space between Maggie and Supergirl continued to grow.

Lucy shook her head. She needed to get back to the business at hand and figure out how they were watched. Maybe then, she could figure out where Alex was and how to get her back before anything else happened.

The city’s teams were a blend of her own and the unfamiliar. When the call went out, even guys on vacation came in to help. Alex Danvers was both a legend and the demon they scared baby agents with. She was family, and the DEO protected their own. There had been enough traitors in recent history, enough disruptions from CADMUS spies and her father’s own last year. What was left were the men, women, and non-gender specific agents that would bust ass until their own was brought home.

Teams were sent out with scanners to their apartments. Alex’s, Maggie’s, Kara’s, even her own, though she was never there, looking for cameras and bugs, checking angles on windows for potential long-distance spying. She had Winn combing through the data of every satellite that had passed over National City in the last six months to see if any of them had been focused on them specifically.

One by one reports came in from the field. Lucy shattered a mug against the wall when she heard just how many things were found, how badly their privacy had been invaded.

Then she shot off an email to Pam about changing the policy of scanning agents’ homes for threats. Clearly waiting for an active threat was no longer acceptable.

Winn’s news was lackluster at best. Lord’s satellites had been focusing on L Corp, which was a worry for another day. The ones her father likely had access to had been haunting the two DEO bases, which was _also_ a problem for another day, and a big one at that. As if Daxamites and god knows what else weren’t big enough threats, she had to deal with her own goddamn father.

As for Lord, well, Lucy made a mental note to ask Alex if Maggie knew about her date with him.

“Winn, any luck tracing the bugs?”

“On the bright side, it’s definitely our guy. Transmission is bouncing around just like the phone call. Unfortunately, that makes it just as untraceable.”

“How the fuck did he plant them?”

Winn shrugged. “Maintenance man? Delivery girl? Good old fashioned breaking and entering?”

“Go back through the building logs. Take it back a year if you have to. I want this bastard found.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lucy sighed and rubbed her eyes, hoping the interrogation went better.

Something dingged, and Winn let out a shout, startling her and every agent within earshot.

“YES!” he dialed Kara, “Hey, we got something!”

Lucy smacked his head for not clearing the call with her first. Or maybe for failing to explain why he was suddenly so excited.

“What?” Kara said.

Judging by the tone of voice, the interrogation _wasn’t_ going well. That was not what Lucy was hoping for, but maybe Winn had found something that could give them some leverage over Thompson.

“So I scanned the visitor logs for Peter Thompson for the past three years. They’re pretty sparse except for one name that kept popping up.”

“Who?”

Yes, Winn, Lucy would love to know the answer to that as well. He was almost Manic though, as he bounced from screen to screen. So she stepped back and let him work through it, making a note about sending him back to protocol training _again_. Genius friend of Supergirl he may be, but she was tired of fending off HR for all of his write ups and violations.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s a fake name.”

Lucy let out a very frustrated breath through her nose.

“BUT, I pulled security footage and baby I _ran_ that facial recognition software. Thompson _has a son_.”

“But we checked,” Kara protested, “He doesn’t have any relations.”

“Well apparently there’s a lot of family drama there Thompson’s not even on the kid’s birth certificate,” Winn said. “And I only figured this out after I cross-checked the names with the court transcripts, the _kid spoke at Thompson’s sentencing._ ”

And he was off to another computer. Lucy was beginning to wonder if anyone was monitoring anything except the Alex situation. Which, on a personal level, she was completely fine with. But on a professional level, she _was not_ looking forward to writing up new protocols.

“And his name… is… Rick Malvern. He has a house an hour outside the city.”

“Rick Malvern. Why does that sound so familiar?”

“Because,” Winn answered, turning to look at Lucy, “he’s from Midvale.”

 _Fuck_. He knew them, knew Kara and Alex. Had known them as children. Knowing Kara, she probably slipped as a child fresh from space, and knowing Alex, her protective streak had been visible for miles. Even without the spying, the groundwork for Alex’s abduction must have been laid _decades_ ago.

Lucy sank forward against the main display table and hung her head for a minute, mind racing over all the possibilities.

She jerked her head up whenWinn started rattling off an address, “Schott, no-”

But it was too late. Supergirl wasoff after the _one_ lead they had, J’onn hot on her trail and Maggie reporting both as she was heard loudly, angrily, slamming the door of the vehicle they had arrived at the prison in. She had been left behind. Again.

As soon as Alex was back in their hands, safe and sound, Lucy was going to drag Kara into the training room and beat some sense into her.

All she could do was listen in to Supergirl’s earpiece. Either she’d muted the DEO’s signal or she was just blatantly ignoring all of Lucy’s pleas to stop and wait for a team. Maggie was silent on her phone, even though Lucy had her on speaker to keep her apprised.

Well, almost silent.

Lucy could hear the engine gunning at every straightaway, the sirens of the DEO’s SUV blaring as Maggie, who had no authorization to drive it or use them, broke all sorts of rules to get back to the DEO faster. She wouldn’t beat Supergirl to Malvern and everyone knew it. So she was heading back to Lucy.

The Danvers sisters were going to cause a re-evaluation of the entire divisions protocols three goddamn years ahead of schedule and likely force the DEO to scrap the whole thing and start over.

There was a slam as Supergirl kicked a door in without warning. No warrant or police to prove reasonable doubt. Sweet Jesus no wonder Maggie was so pissed at her.

“Alex?” Kara called out.

Lucy’s eyes were glued to the speakers.

“Alex?!”

There was no point in asking what Supergirl was seeing.

“She can’t hear you, Kara,” said a male voice.

Malvern, Lucy was sure of it. Her hands gripped into fists, nails biting into the flesh of her palm.

“Rick?”

“Jesus, I haven’t seen you since graduation. You look great!”

Angry Kryptonian footsteps.

“Where is my sister?”

And where the hell was J’onn? How fast had Kara gone to leave him so far behind?

“You break my father out of prison yet?” he asked, his voice strained.

If Vasquez were here, they’d be betting Kara had him up and off the ground by the throat.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

 _Crash_.

“Tell me where she is.”

Lucy closed her eyes and prayed that J’onn would get there soon. She took a deep breath and turned to glare at Winn. He winced and shrank into his seat.

“That’s not how this works,” Malvern laughed. “Now why don’t you try to play nice, Kara? You were always the nice one.”

“Just let me talk to her,” Kara begged.

“If that gets you to play ball, well, then I’m happy to help.”

Shuffling. And footsteps. A keyboard was tapped.

“Alex?”

Lucy gripped the back of Winn’s chair tightly. She held her breath.

“Kara? Kara is that you?”

Lucy sagged, and a heavy breath was let out over the phone she almost forgot she was holding. Thank god, Rao, and anyone else listening. Tinny and distant, clearly through speakers, it was Alex responding to Kara’s voice.

“It was Rick, Rick Malvern from Midvale! He kidnapped me.”

“I-I know. I’m with him right now. Are you okay? Where are you?”

And that was Kara’s voice over Supergirl’s comm, breaking, stuttering. Sounding a bit like Lucy imagined her own heartbeat didin that moment.

“My, my tracker. Can you use my tracker?” Alex asked.

“It’s not working, we don’t kno-”

“Okay,” Rick interrupted.

“That’s enough of a reunion,” he said over Kara’s protests. “It’s simple. She’s told you she’s okay. And now we trade my father for Alex.”

And she was gone. The voice Lucy was so desperate to hold onto, was gone. One of two people  that Lucy would burn the world to the ground for was out of reach again, and a glance at the open call on her screen showed Maggie’s tracker was still miles away.

“Your father is a murderer.”

“A manslaughterer.”

“Tell. Me. Where. She. Is.”

“Tic toc. Tic toc.”

There was the sound of heat vision warming up. Oxygen beginning to burn in the air around Kara’s eyes, Alex once explained. Lucy couldn’t help but let out a cry of protest. If Kara killed him, Alex was as good as dead.

Killing him came later, when Alex was safe and on mandatory mental health leave, sandwiched between Lucy and Maggie catching up on the L Word and bitching that she’s fine.

“Oh wow,” he said, “That’s even cooler up close. You hurt me, you’ll never find her. And she’ll die. Slowly.”

 

* * *

 

They were gathered at the screen watching as Malvern was led into interrogation. She, Maggie, J’onn, Kara, and Winn. While they were dealing with this, Mon El was acting as James’ backup, and Lucy hoped to hell her ex-boyfriend survived the experience.

“He looks _normal,_ ” Winn said, voicing all of their thoughts.

“He was so _nice_ in high school, he used to carry Alex’s bookbag. Why is he doing this to her?”

“I tried reading his mind. He must be blocking me somehow,” added J’onn.

Maggie shifted from foot to foot, eyes shining and jaw set as she stared at the screen. Lucy knew how she felt, knew she’d be doing the same if years of military training hadn’t beaten it out of her. This was all Maggie and none of Detective Sawyer, and Lucy was well aware no one would be seeing this side of her if it weren’t _Alex_ missing.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Lucy said.

She didn’t expect Maggie to ask the same, though she probably should have. They both looked to J’onn. There was not a damn one of them who wasn’t too emotionally invested in this to go talk to Malvern right now, but they were the best the DEO and the NCPD has to offer after Alex. And the last time Alex interrogated someone because someone she loved was in danger, J’onn had to drag her away before he became a bloody corpse on the cell floor.

J’onn looked between them. Lucy stood at parade, but Maggie was still fidgeting. There was a danger in letting either of them in there with him, a danger to Alex _and_ to their prisoner.

“Maggie. It’s not time yet for a cross examination, Lane, we’ll send you in after we have the whole story.”

Lucy shared a look with Maggie. She gritted her teeth and nodded, turning back to the screen as Maggie exited the room.

Yet again, she was on the sidelines.

It seems J’onn had forgotten that Lucy was able to pick out Alex’s lie when even a lie detector test failed.

“No, I haven’t. But I want your perspective on this from the outside, where he can’t see you get angry.”

“I can control myself, J’onn.”

“I know. I want you watching them both.”

Lucy turned her head to frown at him before the scrape of a chair drew her back to the screen. She didn’t notice until the door to the room had shut that Kara was even gone until she saw her in front of the door with her arms crossed.

“Detective Sawyer. And they say there’s never a cop around when you need one.”

Maggie looked unimpressed. “So you know me.”

“I took a whole year planning this. Watching Alex. Preparing. I know...everything.”

“How did you know I was Supergirl?” Kara interrupted.

Lucy sighed. Winn wasn’t the only one in need of a refresher course.

“That day at the beach,” Malvern grinned. “Back then I had no idea that Alex was, playing for the other team, so to speak.”

He leaned forward and took a quick glance at the camera. “You know, for a while there, I thought she was cheating on you with the Major. It took me a while to put the pieces together and my, I would not have predicted this in high school.”

Reasons to kill him just kept mounting. Lucy clenched her fists again and watched as Maggie did her best not to react. She was willing to admit that Maggie held out a lot better than she would have.

“I was just happy she showed up on the date,” he continued. “Then there was a crash. And Alex’s kid sister walked away without a scratch. People at school said it was adrenaline, but, uh…”

“But you didn’t believe that,” Maggie added quietly.

“I saw Kara Danvers do something… amazing,” he agreed. “I knew Kara was living in National City and then Supergirl showed up _in National City_ …”

And now Lucy was beginning to worry about who outside of National City knew the city’s worst-kept secret. She shot a text to Pam to get her team to profile Alex and Kara’s old classmates and see who else needed to be served with an NDA.

“I put two and two together, I knew it was you.”

“What happened to you?” Kara asked. “I remember when Alex had the chicken pox, I was eating lunch alone. You-you came and sat with me. What happened to you?”

“I was fourteen and I didn’t have the perfect house or the perfect family like you and your sister had-”

“ _You think we had it easy?_ You have _no idea_ what Alex sacrificed for me or what I was going through.”

“Why? Because you had to hide your _superpowers_? I was hiding _bruises!_ Do you have any idea what it’s like to hear your mother tell you you’re garbage, every single night?”

Lucy saw the twitch in Maggie’s jaw, the set of her eyes. She also saw Malvern look to her, specifically, after saying that. She herself had heard the story only recently, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he heard her the first time she told Alex, or the time Maggie told her later, or both. If he heard the pain in Maggie’s voice, if he heard her break, and was poking the bear.

“A belt, whenever you have the wrong opinion? And then I found a lifeline, a _dad_ that my mom kept from me. And he saved me from her, and he moved me away from Midvale, and even though we were always struggling, we _always_ had food on the table, and he got me enough money to go to college. _And then three years ago_ , the state took him away from me!”

“Your father killed two people, he confessed.” Maggie said.

“They had it comin’ and now I’m going to rescue him. Like he rescued me,” Malvern said. “I can’t believe we’re still talking about me, you have twenty-four hours and eleven minutes. C’mon, Kara, show us some of that rah-rah Midvale Junior High spirit. _FREE MY DAD!_  Or your sister dies.”

The chains of his restrains snapped nearly as quickly as Kara did. He was pressed up against the wall sooner than Lucy could blink, Maggie still standing half a room away. J’onn was already moving out of observation and Winn was frozen, staring. It wasn’t Kara who snaps like that, who jumped to violence the moment words didn’t work. Earlier it was Kara’s voice in Supergirl’s cape, but now it was Alex’s heart in the grip holding Malvern to the wall.

“Oh if you use half this much gusto in springing my dad, you’ll have your sister back for game night.”

“Kara,” Maggie shouted, “We’re done here.”

And Kara, much to Lucy’s surprise, actually dropped him.

Alex had been gone for nearly 24 hours at this point. If anything happened to the scum on the floor, all three of them would lose her forever. Something in Maggie’s voice must have gotten that across.

“Hey, you know what will be fun? Finding out which one of you loves her more. Honestly, I wouldn’t even know where to place my bet. Especially with that pretty Major in the next room.”

Lucy watched Maggie wait to follow Kara. She watched as the door shut, wanting to know for sure they were out before she chased after them.

Kara was stomping away before she made it to the hall, where Maggie’s arms were crossed and her eyes closed. Her face was tilted towards the ceiling, though she relaxed when Lucy leaned up against her back.

 

* * *

 

It was a good plan, but Lucy thought they played it too soon. J’onn’s acting was brilliant, so was Maggie’s, but Malvern had studied them for a _year_ when they didn’t even know he was going to be a problem.

That didn’t stop her from being crushed when he saw through the ruse. She fell back against the wall. She was still watching though, as Winn shouted from the hall, yelling about Alex being a beautiful human being. As Kara burst into the room.

“Maggie!”

Maggie stood and span, putting herself between Kara and Malvern. “What? How?”

“I guess you underestimated my sister,” Kara said to Malvern. She said to Maggie, “Let’s go.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Malvern warned.

And Lucy believed him.

Kara did not. “You’re delusional and the second we are back here with Alex, you’re going to prison with your dad.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The warning was clear, but Maggie paused to watch Malvern’s face before chasing Kara into the hall, where Lucy soon joined them, because this was _not_ a conversation she was being left out of again. Alex is hers too.

“Malvern still thinks he’s in control, he’s not acting like someone who just lost, he didn’t even flinch, it’s like he’s expecting this!”

“No, no, we are not listening to that, that _psycho_. Every minute we wait matters!”

“Kara,” Lucy says, “We want to find her as badly as you do, _trust me_.”

Lucy stood at Maggie’s side, unwilling to interrupt the tension in her girlfriend’s body. When she was wound this tight it only meant trouble, and this fight had been brewing for months.

“We can’t just punch our way out of this! We gotta do it right!”

It was almost like she wasn’t standing right there.

“If the shoe were on the other foot Alex would already be out the door, I’m not waiting.”

Well. She wasn’t wrong. Alex _would_ already be out there, and Lucy would probably be chasing her ass with two tac teams and Maggie and the NCPD on speed dial. But they could catch up to Alex, Kara had already proven uncatchable in her worry.

“You’re not the only one who cares about her!” Maggie shouted, her voice finally breaking.

“I’m going!”

 _Screw protocol_ , Lucy thought. She’d seen the set in Maggie’s jaw and the frustration boiling over. The words none of them had said but all of them felt. She wrapped herself around Maggie, burying her face in Maggie’s neck as the tension radiates off of them both. Maggie needed to hear that someone was listening, that someone was taking her seriously, but Lucy had no words.

She had no words for the sinking feeling in her gut. Or for the look on Malvern’s face when he warned them not to follow this lead. Or for the heavy feeling settling over her heart at the pitying look he shot Maggie as she left after Kara.

She had no words five minutes later when she heard that the clock had dropped from twenty hours down to four.

Alex had been missing for twenty four hours.

And now, thanks to Kara rushing in, thanks to a twisted middle school crush and a criminal father, they’d lost sixteen of the hours they had left to find her.

And Lucy had no words.

 

* * *

 

Lucy followed Kara into the interrogation room and watched as she slammed  down the computer. She’s prayed that Kara didn’t damage it, their only link to Alex, to seeing that she was okay. They’d lost so much time, Lucy couldn’t… she couldn’t lose this too.

“Tell me where she is!”

“I told you not to go there.”

It was almost pitying, the glance he shot over Kara’s shoulder. Like he knew that Kara would rush in, he’d prepared for that, but he was sorry that she did. Lucy kept her face blank, but it didn’t really matter, did it? If he followed Alex for a year, he knew Alex, he knew Maggie, he knew _her_. He knew very well that her heart was in that glass box slowly filling with water. He knew that there was less than four hours before she and Maggie stormed right back to that room and ripped the still beating heart from his chest.

He knew he was a dead man walking if something happened to Alex.

He just didn’t care.

And that? Lucy found terrifying. Because he was a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain in waiting them out. Either his father was freed or he died trying, and he destroyed all of them with him.

“Tell me where she is, NOW!”

“I I gave you thirty-six hours to break my father out of prison. But you didn’t listen,” he says. “So now that room is going to fill up with water in less than four hours. I think it’s time you got movin’.”

Kara stared at him. Lucy watched as the kid in the cape tried to stare down the man holding her hero- her _sister_ \- hostage. Leaned forward on the table the way Lucy had seen Alex do a million times in a million different interrogations.

It could have been the slight tremble in the hands denting the table.

It could have been The Crinkle.

Or maybe Rick Malvern was just a psychopath who slipped through the cracks because the only thing he did was smile. He didn’t blink, he barely breathed, he just… waited.

“Let me talk to Alex,” Kara pleaded.

Three buttons, and the computer beeped. Kara spun the computer around and Lucy shifted to the side to see the screen. Alex, waist deep in rising water, pacing the room. Knowing her time was running out. Alex, whose shoulder was still bleeding where she must have dug the tracker out of her own skin.

“Alex!”

“Kara! I-I-I-I sent out a signal, I thought you were coming!”

Lucy’s heart shattered at the break in Alex’s voice.

“He rerouted the IP address, he sent it somewhere else. Do you have any idea where you are?”

Kara kept her voice steady. Lucy didn’t know how. Her hands were fisted at her sides, clenching every time Malvern breathed. Her eyes, like Lucy’s, were locked on the screen, watching. Looking for any other sign of injury as the water just kept inching up Alex’s legs, trying to believe everything would be okay.

Alex looked around and just, she just shrugged. The water was rising and the clock was ticking and they had no idea where Alex was . They couldn’t lose her. Lucy _wouldn’t_ lose her. She wouldn’t let Maggie lose her, or Kara, or J’onn. That’s just not something that could happen.

She wouldn’t let it.

She couldn’t.

“I was unconscious. I could be hours away, or I-I-I could be in the city?”

“Alex? It’s Rick,” he said, leaning forward. “I don’t want to hurt you. I keep on telling your sister that. Tell her to get my father, and this can all be over. And you can come home and get dry.”

“Kar- No!” Alex said firmly. “Kara, no you do not give that _terrorist_ what he wants. You cannot let yourself be blackmailed, you cannot open yourself up to that. _Ever_. Supergirl is bigger than me.”

Maggie pushed into the room and rushed to the computer. “Alex?”

“Maggie?”

“I’m right here.”

“I-is… is Lucy there?”

Lucy stepped forward, edging past Kara. “Always, Danvers.”

“I-I… I need to speak to you both. Alone?”

Her eyes were darting around the cell. She couldn’t t see then, couldn’t see the worried twist to Maggie’s mouth or the look they shared at her request. The glance they barely gave Kara before hurrying out of the room that held Alex’s sister but also her torturer.

The door was barely shut before Lucy started speaking. “Alex, honey, we’re coming okay? The entire DEO is on this, NCPD, hell we even called in Brian to keep an ear out okay?”

“Babe,” Maggie’s voice broke. “Everyone here is working hard and we’re going to find you.”

Lucy crowded Maggie’s shoulder. They both knew Alex couldn’t see them, but they stuck close to the screen anyway, cataloging every move and every expression on that beautiful face.

“The water is rising fast, and there are things I need to say.”

“No, don’t start talking like this is the end!”

“I don’t want it to be, but in case it is-”

“It’s not!” And Lucy’s voice was breaking too, both of them at the edge of tears. “You’re a badass, Danvers-”

“And you’re gonna figure out a way to get yourself out of there or you’re gonna hold on until we get there.”

“Guys, listen to me, _please_ ,” Alex begged.

She couldn’t hold her eyes on the camera. She dropped them in the same way she would if she were begging them in person, and it hurt. Alex is so, so strong, so fearless, and so, so afraid. And there was nothing Lucy or Maggie could do. It was all Lucy could do to wrap a trembling arm around Maggie’s waist, rest her head against Maggie as they both shook with suppressed sobs, as the laptop in Maggie’s hands wobbled.

“No, okay? Okay we just started this, you, and me, and Lucy. And it’s not gonna end. Not for a long time. We just had our first Valentine’s day, I want to do more with you,” she looked to Lucy, “I want to do more with _both of you_.”

Maggie’s voice was hoarse with pain. She was shaking her head like Alex could see them, and Lucy could feel her own tears falling. It was not worth wiping them away, not after two hours of sleep and a day of panic and keeping calm for everyone else. There were cameras in the hall, of course, but Lucy would take anyone who tries to hold this against them to the mats when Alex was home.

Hell, Alex would help. And Maggie needed the practice.

“I want more firsts,” Lucy agreed. “First vacation- we haven’t even argued over where we’re going yet, or how to load the dishwasher-”

“Or how to unload it so Lucy and I can reach things,” Maggie sniffed, “Or what to name our first dog, do you want a dog?”

Lucy was, honestly, more of a cat person, but it got Alex to laugh a little and rub her neck. That thing she does when she’s feeling awkward about _feelings_ and having them and experiencing them. When she doesn’t want to admit that this was something she’d thought about before. Like when Maggie sat them down to talk, like after Alex talked herself around to the idea of them while giving Kara advice. Like she did every time Lucy called her out on wearing her damn helmet.

If it meant Alex came home safe, she’d pick up dog shit on her morning run. She’d forgive the eaten shoes and ruined carpets. She’d-

“Yeah… um, let’s, let’s name her Gertrude.”

She’d do anything except that. Lucy snorted, “Are you kidding me, Danvers?”

Even Maggie laughed a little. “See, there’s a lifetime of firsts that we’re gonna do together. So hold on, okay? Hold on until we get to you. You promise. Promise me!”

“I-”

The screen cut out.

Lucy’s heart stopped, her breath stopped, she couldn’t move.

“What- Alex?” Maggie hit keys, trying to bring her back. She slammed the computer shut and threw it down the hall in frustration before burying her hands in her hair.

The water must have gotten into the wiring, which added a whole other level of terror to the grip on Lucy’s heart. What happened if it wasn’t just the water passing through those cables? What if the electricity passed through as well? The room was glass, yes, and concrete blocks, but it was held together with steel. The furniture was steel. The pipes were metal too. Did they now risk an electrified Alex before the clock ran out?

Kara rushed out at the noise and saw the laptop on the ground. Saw Lucy frozen and crying, while Maggie still fought to hold back the tears. “What happened?”

“ _I told you not to rush in._ And now you’ve made things worse.”

“I did what I thought was right!” Kara exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

“I _should_ have been heard. I should have been listened to. _Lucy_ should have been listened to. I’m- _we’re her girlfriends_!”

“And I’m her sister!”

“And you think that trumps us? That you know what’s right for her?” Lucy asked.

The fight between Supergirl and Maggie had been brewing a long time. But Major Lane, co-Director of the DEO had a bone of her own to pick with Supergirl. If she had followed protocols, they wouldn’t be in this position, they’d still have fourteen hours before the water started pouring in. There’d be no need for halted goodbyes and words hanging heavy over their heads and hearts, of giving their imaginary dog a name that will get her ass kicked at future trips to the dog park because Alex’s oblivious ass didn’t realize some scientist she admired as a child was her first gay crush.

“I-I got her to be herself, Kara. _We_ got her to be herself. _We have just as much to lose as you!”_

Lucy reached for Maggie and pulled her back out of Kara’s space. There was a stunned look to the alien’s eyes, and Lucy thought maybe she got it, maybe she finally understood. She was not alone in protecting Alex, not anymore. It was no longer the Danvers Sisters Against the World, it was them and her and finding Alex and bringing her home.

It was three words dangling in the air, just out of reach, just like the oxygen Lucy couldn’t seem to get enough of right now as the vice on her heart kept squeezing.

“You should have listened to me,” Maggie sobbed.

Lucy pursed her lips when Maggie pulled away to storm off. She watched for a moment before turning to Kara. “Even if you weren’t willing to listen to Maggie because she’s new, or a cop, or you had a fight, or _whatever_ , you should have listened to me. There are protocols _for a reason_ and they are to prevent the worst from happening.”

Lucy took a deep breath. Kara’s eyes were still on Maggie’s departing back, glossy with her own tears. She’d never seen Supergirl look this young, or this lost.

“When we get her back- _when_ \- we are going to sit down and discuss this whole mess and _prevent this from happening again_ , Kara. We all want what’s best for Alex, okay? Maggie and I, we don’t _work_ without Alex, not together, not apart. I need you to understand this. We’re a package deal now, just like you and Alex and the eight flavors of ice cream in her freezer, okay?”

Kara swallowed heavily before meeting Lucy’s eyes and nodding.

She thought maybe the kid was starting to get it.

Whether she did or she didn’t , Lucy didn’t have time for more lectures. She had to find the girlfriend she could before they ran out of time to find the one she couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispered.

Lucy stopped and closed her eyes. Kara sounded just as broken and scared as they did, and she really shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known the Danvers’ for over a year, she knew that Alex was Kara’s person, her anchor to humanity. She turned back to face Kara.

“You made it worse, but none of this is your fault,” Lucy conceded. “It’s his.”

“Not- not _just_ that. I know the protocols. I’m sorry I didn’t obey them.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Kara wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed. Lucy supposed that, aside from Clark and Mon El and J’onn, there weren’t many people she could squeeze tight enough to get that kind of comfort from. A teddy bear certainly wasn’t going to stand up to a Kryptonian hug.

“Protocols were important on Krypton. That’s why it was such a big deal when Astra… did what she did. Why she was sent to Fort Rozz,” Kara said, taking a deep, shaky breath. “Protocols killed my planet and breaking them saved Kal, saved me.”

Lucy stopped just out of Kara’s space and studied her. The way her hands pulsed a heartbeat into her skin as the muscles contracted and relaxed. As her jaw tensed and she refused to meet Lucy’s eyes.

“Following protocols also almost sent Alex to CADMUS.”

Kara nodded, sharp and violent.

“I get it, Kara. I have been trying to make up for that since I helped you rescue her. I don’t want anything happening to her either.”

“I know,” Kara said.

Lucy was barely startled when her arms were full of a sobbing Kryptonian. Murmurs of how sorry she was, how she was only trying to get Alex back, how she should have known Rick was watching them. How well he knew her, knew them all, to plan for this, to put Alex in _more_ danger as a punishment for being reckless, for being Supergirl.

Lucy held on. She let the girl from a lost world bury her face in Lucy’s neck and cry. Lucy gripped as tight as she could, knowing that Kara’s bruising grip on her was still Kara holding back. Lucy had watched Alex and Kara both let the world burn to save the other. As helpless as Maggie and Lucy were, they were still human. Kara was not, she wasn’t used to not being able to do _something_ , find _some way_ to rescue her sister.

As scared and worried as they were, Maggie and Lucy and Alex knew the risks. The risks of being human, of doing what they did for a living. That’s why Alex tried to open the box on those words, that’s why she and Maggie slammed it shut and told her to hold on.

That was a feeling Kara only experienced briefly, and it wasn’t so much being human as it was Kryptonian, because no matter how hard she tried to fit in, she never truly would.

Kara wasn’t human.

Kara was virtually unkillable, but Alex?

Alex was human.

Soft, squishy, dangerously human.

It was Alex’s nature to protect Kara, sliding easily between her and danger in the role of big sister. And Kara usually let her, knowing that she was fast enough to get Alex out of the way of true danger. Lucy had watched it happen with everything from Fort Rozz criminals to a drunken frat boy in front of Kara’s building.

But Alex wasn’t there, wasn’t where Kara could reach her and scoop her out of trouble.

Lucy let Kara cry. Shed a few tears herself, her face burrowing into perfect golden curls. They were tired and scared. They could scarcely afford the time, but Kara and Lucy desperately needed it. Needed to let it out so that they could resume the search and rescue.

She waited until Kara began to pull back to loosen her hold.

“I’m, I’m going to go to the balcony to get some air.”

Lucy nodded, “I’m going to go track down Maggie.”

“Tell her… tell her I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, I will,” Lucy smiled.

She and Supergirl headed off in different directions, each in search of a different kind of peace.

 

* * *

 

She’d checked the cafeteria, the locker room, the gym, and the command center before she finally checked Alex’s office. But Maggie wasn’t there either.

Lucy sat heavily in Alex’s chair and leaned her head back, closing her eyes and breathing in the faint scent of Alex’s perfume. Another minute of quiet, desperately trying to force her tense body to relax, just a little, just for a moment. Her hands drifted over the armrests to dangle at the sides of the chair. Her fingers ran mindlessly along the plastic edges of the best ergonomics the government can afford.

Her eyes shot open.

She reached down under the chair frantically.

The holster for Alex’s gun was empty.

Maggie was gone.

Lucy frowned and dug into her pocket on a hunch.

Alex’s gun was gone, Maggie was missing, and so was Lucy’s security badge.

It’d been nearly an hour since Maggie stormed away from the broken laptop.

Lucy was already running for the command center when she began shouting for Kara.

Kara was on her way to the prison while Lucy reviewed the tape of Maggie and Malvern. She must have slipped back in when she and Kara separated.

God the reasons to kill this man were mounting.

Listening to him talk to Maggie about them, about spying on them, a voyeur into their lives… It sickened her. Lucy wasn’t sure how she’d be able to face going back to Alex’s apartment, or even Maggie’s. Hell, her own. Knowing he’d been there… watching.

Lucy pushed aside her own fears to do what J’onn suggested she do earlier: she watched them both. Saw what she missed earlier, beneath the tears and the promises. She saw Maggie crumbling under her cop face, knowing that the clock was ticking on her girlfriend’s life.

She watched Maggie turn Lucy’s badge over in her hand as she exited, barely pausing to glance at the cameras.

For the theft alone, Lucy should revoke her visitor’s clearance.

Then again, if Supergirl didn’t hurry, Maggie would be joining Thompson in prison and they wouldn’t have to worry about it. Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose and resisted the urge to bang her head against Winn’s workstation.

They didn’t have a feed inside the prison, but the NCPD chatter was constant in her ear. The attempt at breaking out Thompson had been reported. Alien weaponry on site. Backup requested.

Lucy thanked whoever was listening that they’d figured out the space gun’s “stun” feature. She and Alex were too pretty to be visiting Maggie in a high security prison for conjugal visits.

She glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes remaining.

 _Hang on, Alex_.

Kara’s comm echoed through the room. They had a location, and before the last word left Kara’s mouth, Lucy was in the air and… flying?!

J’onn had her.

Given the chance, she’d much rather cling to his back than be carried bridal style at breakneck speeds through the city, cracking glass as they ducked around skyscrapers and bypassed the traffic below.

J’onn smiled reassuringly after Lucy’s best attempt at strangling him when he cut it a little too close to the power lines.

Before she knew it, he’d dropped her to her feet and she was running, running, almost as soon as her feet hit the ground. She was running to Kara and Maggie, Kara ripping the door of the warehouse open, Maggie with her flashlight out and gun ready. All three of them virtually ignored the handful of thugs Malvern had hired to keep them from getting to Alex.

They were J’onn’s problem, as his girls raced to save Alex.

He trusted them to save his favorite daughter as the clock wound down.

Lucy glanced at her watch as they raced into the warehouse, shouting for Alex, scanning for any sign, any sound. Time ran out three minutes ago.

But this was Alex.

Alex would find a way to survive for them.

She’d promised.

They turned a corner, their feet pounding almost as fast as their hearts and they just stopped. She wasn’t sure about the others, but her heart stopped as suddenly as they did at the sight of Alex, floating, arms drifting at her sides, just bobbing in a glass cage. Alex, her strong, beautiful Alex, eyes closed, not fighting.

The grip that’d been around her heart for hours now tightened. She couldn’t breathe, she, Lucy, she could only stare, it’d been seconds, maybe, but she couldn’t count the heartbeats she couldn’t feel, stiff, still, she just… stared. She couldn’t breathe. It couldn’t end like this, not now, not so soon. She didn’t give in to her feelings just to lose everything, she and Maggie wouldn’t survive losing Alex. _Kara_ wouldn’t survive losing Alex.

“Alex!” Maggie whimpered.

And then, oh god, then a last bubble of air left Alex, and Kara was off in a blur. Kara went so fast she went straight through the glass and the cement wall behind it, missing Alex completely as the water, and Alex, rushed out of the box.

And Maggie was dropping her gun, dropping her flashlight, and grabbing Lucy’s hand. They were running, running for Alex’s limp form, gathering her in their arms even as Kara circled back in the building.

Alex was coughing, gasping, choking on water. Maggie was at Alex’s head, Lucy at her back, Kara kneeling on her other side, as they gently rolled her to her side to help. She was coughing for what seems like hours before she could even seem to acknowledge the three women crowding her.  

Alex gasping for air, soaked and shivering, was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Lucy had ever seen.

Because Alex was breathing.

Alex was breathing and alive.

Kara was thrilled, whispering, “She’s alive, Rao, she’s alive.”

And while they were late, the timer ran out-

-they weren’t _too_ _late_.

Alex held on.

Alex, stubborn, beautiful, maddening Alex, held on.

And Alex was pushing herself back over, rolling back onto Maggie and Lucy’s laps, and her eyes were bright, and exhausted, and _so alive_. Maggie’s hands were lifting Alex up to cradle her face to Maggie’s chest, brushing hands over her face and lips and kissing Alex’s forehead. Lucy grabbed a shaking hand and held the freezing digits to her own face, kissing the palm, kissing Alex’s pounding, unsteady pulse at her wrist.

“You held on,” Kara said.

“I held on,” Alex choked out.

Lucy and Maggie choked on hysterical laughter and agreed.

Kara let them hold Alex, contenting herself with gripping Alex’s other hand and sharing a weak smile with her sister.

They were all soaked, now, with freezing water, and the exhaustion was hitting them all hard. The adrenaline of finding Alex, of her surviving, was crashing, and hard. But it was only when Alex started to shiver harder that they realized they were still there, on a cold concrete floor.

And that was the only reason she and Maggie released Alex.

Maggie slipped out of her leather jacket. She and Lucy helped Alex struggle into it, even as Alex could barely keep her eyes open, still whispering, “I held on.”

Kara wrapped her sister tightly in her cape but paused, unsure. There was no way to carry Alex _and_ them, and Lucy and Maggie were still reaching, touching, trying to keep hold of Alex.

It was Lucy who kissed Alex on the forehead one last time before wrapping her arms around Maggie and pulling her away. “Go, Kara. Get Alex to medical before the hypothermia sets in. J’onn brought me, we’ll be there soon.”

They were still staring at the hole Kara made in the roof as she shot up, her sister cradled safely in her arms, when J’onn made his way inside, thugs dealt with.

Lucy glanced at her watch again.

Waiting for Alex to breathe again had felt like hours.

It had been less than ten minutes.

Lucy didn’t complain when J’onn wrapped an arm around each of them and took off. She didn’t say anything, really, tucking her face into J’onn’s neck and gripping at Maggie’s arm as they flew up, up and away, just so very thankful.

So very lucky.

 

* * *

 

They waited nearly an hour for Dr. Hamilton to meet them in the hall where they’d been pacing. Lucy was dead on her feet, running on two hours of sleep and twenty hours of panic. Maggie wasn’t much better, twisting her hands and muttering.

Both of them stopped and stared as Hamilton exited the room with Maggie’s jacket in hand. She was smiling, and it made them both relax just a little bit more. “Agent Danvers is going to be just fine. She’ll probably be cold, and I’d like to keep her for observation as is custom for near-drownings-”

“But you don’t actually think we can keep her here, do you?”

Hamilton snickered. “Lane, I don’t think I could keep her here if I allowed you three blackout curtains and conjugal visits.”

Lucy refused to blush.

She refused.

She had years of law school and military training to keep a straight face.

Which is why she refused to blush, even as her ears betrayed her and she could feel the rush of warmth at their tips.

Even Maggie smiled a little.

“You two can go in. Keep her company, _try_ to keep her in bed as long as possible. And when she leaves, keep her warm and drinking warm fluids. No heavy food for a bit. If she has difficulty breathing, bring her in immediately, because her lungs could be filling back up with fluid, okay?” Hamilton dropped the jacket around Maggie’s shoulders. “I’m very surprised Supergirl isn’t here.”

“She’s keeping watch over Malvern,” Maggie whispered, pulling her arms through the damp sleeves.

“Ah. Fair enough. You two go in there then, put yourselves at ease. You got Danvers back, she’s safe, and we’re all going to make sure she’s going to be just fine.”

With that, Hamilton left them with another smile and a passing pat on Lucy’s shoulder.

This time, what felt like hours, actually was. Alex was, understandably, exhausted from her ordeal. Kidnapping, drowning, it was a lot to go through in less than 48 hours. Lucy was a little bit ashamed to realize that she’d dozed off, face down next to Alex’s hand on the tiny medical bed.

She only realized this when a cold, shaky finger brushed the hair from her face. She blinked away the sleep to find Alex staring back at her, a small smile on her face.

Alex turned to look at Maggie, standing by the heart monitor and keeping watch out the observation windows, “Hey, you.”

Maggie spun and uncrossed her arms, a thankful smile on her face. Lucy sat up as Maggie came to stand on Alex’s other side, tears in both of their eyes.

“You okay?” Alex asked.

She asked as if she hadn’t been the one kidnapped. As if she hadn’t been the one tortured with slowly rising water and the knowledge that she would drown if they weren’t fast enough.

Typical Agent Badass.

Typical Alex Danvers, asking about them first.

“Am I okay?” Maggie croaked, “Are you kidding?”

Alex reached for their hands and tugged them both closer. The hand in Lucy’s was absolute ice. She wrapped both of hers around it, trying to let her own warmth seep into Alex’s cold skin. Too cold.

“You know you’re really clever with the whole Navy SEAL thing, and your pants... _and your pants, what was that?_ ” Maggie laughed.

And Lucy got it. At this point, they have to laugh, because if they don’t, they’ll cry, all three of them. But she wasn’t ready to laugh, not yet. Lucy cracked a small smile though, to see her girls together and huffing out quiet laughter at Alex Danvers, supernerd, pulling ridiculous stunts to survive.

“Well, I knew I just had to buy a couple seconds, I knew you guys were coming.”

And Alex was serious again. Because it was serious. It was serious.

And it wasn’t seconds.

It was minutes.

And if it were anyone else?

Anyone but Agent Alex “Authority Problem” Danvers?

If it had been her, or Maggie, or _literally any other human being on this planet?_

They’d be planning a funeral right now. Or talking to a vegetable on life support.

Lucy took Alex’s hand and pressed it to her forehead even as she closed her eyes. Her breath hitched.

Maggie reached a hand across to Lucy.

“You didn’t let me finish… before, but I, um, I just really have to say it now,” Alex breathed, tugging her hand away from Lucy so that she could push herself up.

Lucy’s eyes jerked open as she and Maggie scrambled, not to help as they both knew Alex wouldn’t appreciate it, but to hover, their fingertips ghosting the underside of Alex’s arms as the bedridden idiot _who just survived drowning_ pushed up.

“Alex-”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she shushed Lucy. She reached for them again, her eyes dancing from the three clasped hands to the two very worried faces of her girlfriends. “Those firsts that we talked about?”

Maggie nodded, her lower lip trembling. “Mmhmm?”

“I want to have them _all_ with you. With both of you. I never want to stop having firsts with you.”

Alex paused, taking her time to look at them both individually, as if memorizing their faces. “I love you, Maggie Sawyer.”

“I love you, Alex Danvers,” Maggie said.

And Lucy’s heart broke, just a little. Because of course she did, Maggie was Alex’s awakening, was everything, risked her life and career while Lucy followed protocol-

“I love you, Lucy Lane.”

Lucy’s eyes betrayed her as she studied Alex’s tired, red eyes. “And I love you, Alex Danvers.”

Lucy tooka risk, glancing at Maggie, who was looking so proud, and happy, and staring straight at her the same way Alex was. “And I love you, too, Maggie Sawyer.”’

Because it was true. The cop that was her rival had wormed her way under Lucy’s skin. She’d become so much more than Alex’s girlfriend, than Lucy’s frenemy-turned-romantic-something. She was as much of Lucy’s world as Alex was is, balancing it out and making her heart whole.

She was still surprised when Maggie’s smile widened even deeper, when she shook her head in pure joy. “I love you too, Luce.”

“Yeah?” Lucy asked, uncertain.

“Yeah,” Maggie nodded. “I love you both so much.”

And it was laughter, it was hope, it was coming home as they met in a series of kisses, not just lips or tongue but cheeks and chins and eyes. Just whatever they could touch and taste and smell and feel, enjoying the words finally released from their cages, enjoying the life and love so freely bursting from the three lovers.

If Lucy’s nose lingered in Maggie’s hair, or her lips over the pulse in Alex’s neck, no one said a thing.

No one talked about the tears they shared either, just enjoying the quiet.

And enjoying being happy.

Because Lucy was so, so happy, here, crowding what barely counted as a bed, sharing body heat and kisses with her two favorite people on the planet.

Absolutely no one was surprised when, maybe an hour later, Alex headed for the control room. She was nice enough not to put up too much of a fight when her girlfriends rolled their eyes at each other and found their places on either side of her. Alex pretended not to notice that they’d slowed their usual pace to allow her to move on her own, and they pretended not to notice the weight draped over their shoulders as Alex’s body told her to do the exact opposite of what she was doing.

J’onn smiled brightly as Maggie huffed out, “She refused to stay in bed.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m alright,” Alex soothed. She broke away from them to drape herself in the arms of her favorite Kryptonian, squeezing as hard as she could manage.

“I knew you’d be fine,” said Mon El as the sisters broke apart.

Lucy would pay Winn good money for that shot of Alex’s face.

“You did good, Alex,” and there was J’onn, leaning in for a hug. As Alex’s arms reached around him, he moved to drag Lucy and Maggie into it, “You too, Lucy, Maggie.”

Lucy and Maggie glowed with parental approval.

Alex too, almost giddy, bounced on her toes. “Just doing what you taught me to.”

“Oh… you survived.”

Alex’s smile dropped as she turned to face Malvern. Lucy noted that several agents around the room dropped their hands to their guns, and she was so, so tempted to do the same. Maggie reached for Alex, but it was Winn who stepped in.

Sweet Winn, who cowers when Alex glares and lets her steal his beer at game night. Winn, who flinches at raised voices and was just as panicked at Kara the entire time Alex was gone.

Winn slid between Alex and Malvern. Between Lucy and Maggie and Malvern. He put himself between his sisters and the man who tortured them all emotionally, and Alex physically. Winn got in Malvern’s face and pointed, “Oh _you_ do _not_ get to talk to her.”

Alex trusted her brother and girlfriends completely. With them, she was free to turn her back on Malvern and ask, “What are you going to do to him?”

“My job,” J’onn said proudly, “Protect the identity of Supergirl and the DEO.”

“You’re gonna mind wipe him?”

“Do you object?” J’onn asked.

“Oh, no. Just… before you do that?” Alex paused.

She turned to face Malvern.

They really should have expected it. She’s Alex, after all.

Even the agents escorting Malvern didn’t really react other than catching Malvern before he hit the ground.

After Alex clocked him in the nose.

Because of course she did.

She’s Alex.

Maggie was clearly having similar thoughts to Lucy, thoughts to be revisited later on a different night when they knew they wouldn’t have a Kryptonian space heater fighting for room in Alex’s giant bed. Thoughts that they should definitely not be having so soon after receiving dad’s approval, which is why they shared a proud smirk with each other before glancing at J’onn. Lucy didn’t know what Maggie thought about during times like these, but her preference was mentally reciting the best parts of Space Jam.

“So just make sure he remembers that?” Alex asked.

“Will do,” J’onn laughed, and followed Malvern and his escorts to medical.

Winn shared a high five with Alex like the proud little brother he was.

Lucy slipped back under Alex’s arm, tracing the gauze on her shoulder. Alex hugged her close even as her attention was on her little brother, who she hadn’t greeted properly since waking up. Lucy let them have their moment while she kept an eye on trouble, with Maggie and Kara going off a ways to talk.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she couldn’t help but laugh when Kara batted away Maggie’s offered hand and pulled her into a hug. It drew Alex’s attention, but Maggie made her way back and, this time, tucked herself into Lucy’s side, reaching around Lucy to squeeze Alex’s waist.

Lucy was warm between them. She finally lost that last bit of stress, dropping her shoulders and knocking her head against Maggie’s.

This time last year, she was watching Alex get hauled away to CADMUS and trying desperately to assuage the guilt she felt at sending her friend’s sister to a government black site. A darker part of her wished she had an opportunity to do that to Malvern.

But then, Lucy Lane oversaw the desert base. She was in charge of prisoner containment.

Rick Malvern was now in her care.

And Lucy would have to deal with the consequences of later decisions exactly that. Later.

For now?

Alex was safe.

No one was in jail.

Lucy was fucking exhausted.

She’d also never felt more at home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I got the POV oopsies but hit me up if you see one. Poor Rex had a beast of a time with fixing the tenses alone.


	20. Episode 20: Catch and Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Rick Malvern and the beginning of the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO so shout out to Rex and Riley for letting me bitch at them for however long it takes. I've been hanging onto this one for a while, figured I'd give a bit of a Christmas present to y'all (present, proof of life, same thing right?) rather than waiting for art during the busy holiday season. (I LOVE YOU KRIS, SOMEONE NEEDS A LIFE CUZ IT SURE AIN'T ME)

**Episode 20: Catch and Return**

Mornings were still a little rough. Nights were spent wrapped around Alex, with Maggie and Lucy clinging to her, taking turns listening to her heartbeat and lungs as she slept. Alex’s cough was slowly subsiding, the fear of secondary drowning fading as she recovered. 

Alex, of course, insisted she was fine. Insisted she could handle “a little water” and that “no asshole would get to her.”

Lucy found her curled up in the bottom of the shower the first time Alex forced herself into it. Unlike in the glass box, Alex’s shower was hot and steaming up the glass, but it didn’t seem to matter. Alex pressed against the tile, knees to her chest and shaking as she flinched away from every droplet of water. 

Lucy pulled her up and dried her off, using wipes and dry shampoo to help Alex feel clean. 

Maggie found her the next time in much the same condition. 

Alex kept pushing herself to face her fears and refused to let either of them help. 

Lucy couldn’t take it anymore. She set her alarm to three-thirty on vibrate. When it went off, she immediately silenced the vibrations and parked herself in the bathroom, dozing against the wall. 

If Alex wanted to push herself, fine. 

Lucy would make damn sure she couldn’t do it alone. 

Alex crept in around 4:15, apparently not having noticed that Lucy was no longer in her bed. She didn’t turn on the lights even after quietly closing the door. Lucy heard more than saw the curtain shift aside as Alex reached for the tap. She heard the curtain hooks squeak again when Alex jumped at the sound of running water.

Alex startled when Lucy flicked on the light over the sink, leaving the shower stall unlit. 

“Morning, Alex.”

“Hey, Luce. You, uh, want to shower first?”

“I thought we might do it together, Danvers.”

Alex scratched the back of her neck. “Um.”

“No funny business, Alex.” Lucy rubbed at her eyes. “I just want some of the hot water today.”

Alex grimaced. 

“Is it okay if I turn on the water?” Lucy paused. She waited until Alex nodded. Lucy backed up and reached for the lever, keeping her eyes on Alex the whole time. 

The water rushed out of the showerhead, a rushing staccato on the tile walls, and Lucy watched as Alex braced herself. The muscles of Alex’s forearms tensed below pushed up sleeves. Her cheek twitched as her jaw tensed. 

She refused to meet Lucy’s eyes. 

Lucy reached back, testing the water. It was just shy of boiling, perfect for her and the exact opposite of how Alex used to start her mornings. She flicked her eyes to Alex’s hands as they began to twist in the bottom of her shirt. 

Lucy tilted her head and thought for a moment. 

Then she ripped off her soft cotton army tee and threw it at Alex’s face. 

“What the hell, Lane?” Alex asked as she pulled the shirt off her face. 

It was hard to take her irritation seriously when she was still staring at Lucy’s chest. 

Lucy smirked and reached for Alex, tugging her closer. Slowly, carefully, she undressed her girlfriend. Then she kicked off the last remnants of her own clothing and stepped slowly backwards into the shower, holding Alex’s hands loosely in her own. 

She didn’t pull. 

The water cascaded down over Lucy, soaking her hair and plastering it to her face. Lucy let herself relax as the hot water hit her shoulders. She rolled her head and let the water work it’s magic, all while holding Alex’ hands just far enough into the water for them to get wet. 

Alex pursed her lips. Her eyes traced the water as it dripped down Lucy’s face. She swallowed, and Lucy finally saw that glint of determination fill Alex’s eyes. 

She stepped forward, slowly. Alex made her way into the shower, keeping Lucy between her and the water. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, but her gaze was steady. 

Lucy squeezed Alex’s hands. “Hey.”

“Hey, Luce.”

“You okay?”

Alex nodded, her hair falling into her eyes. 

Lucy reached up, slowly. She brushed the hair out of Alex’s eyes with a wet hand that left water dripping down Alex’s face. She traced those droplets with her fingers, caressing Alex’s skin. 

Lucy finally relaxed for real when Alex closed her eyes and leaned into her skin. Lucy leaned up and kissed her softly, pressing her wet body against Alex’s mostly dry one. 

“Wanna wash my back?”

Alex snorted. “Sure, Lucy.”

Lucy grinned and spun around. She tilted her face into the water and slicked her hair out of the way.

Alex was slow and methodical about picking up Lucy’s body wash and dousing the loofa, slower still as she worked it over Lucy’s skin. Long, sweeping lines of bubbles washed away as they formed, Alex’s free hand loosely reaching for Lucy’s and moving her arm up and away from her body. Alex knelt, working her way down Lucy’s body and lathering up her legs, first down the back, then under her feet with Lucy using her for balance, and again up Lucy’s shins and around her thighs. 

Slowly.

Carefully. 

Alex stood as she moved up, hesitating slightly before pressing her front to Lucy’s back, concentrating on washing Lucy’s front. She pressed a kiss to Lucy’s warm, wet neck, flinching only a little as the water began to hit her face. 

Lucy kissed Alex’s jaw, lingering and pressing her forehead against her cheek. 

Alex hummed. “Hair?”

“Yes, please.”

A slight whine escaped Lucy when Alex pulled away to reach for the shampoo. She moaned when Alex’s strong fingers worked into her hair, scratching gently along her scalp. 

Alex laughed. “No funny business, Lane.”

“Let’s see you behave when I wash your hair,” Lucy sassed, reaching around to pinch Alex’s butt. 

Alex danced out of the way, “We don’t have a waterproof step stool.”

“Good thing you like being on your knees, huh?”

Alex pulled on a lock of hair. “Behave.”

Lucy turned and pointed the full force of her pout at Alex. She tilted her head back to let the bubbles rinse free. “Condition me and I’ll do you?”

Alex smirked. 

“Now who needs to behave?”

Alex was given the same treatment as she had given Lucy, with a small exception. With every flinch when the showerhead stuttered, Lucy traced the freshly washed skin with kisses. She lingered on the scar on Alex’s shoulder, pressed her ear against Alex’s back as she washed her arms just to hear her breathe. Lucy let herself be as tactile as she wished, watching Alex for any sense of unease or displeasure. 

By the time Lucy was ready to wash Alex’s hair, Alex had finally relaxed. She slumped over, pressing her forehead into Lucy’s shoulder with a sigh. Lucy kissed her temple and dug her shampoo-covered fingers into Alex’s shorter hair, massaging it in until the water began to chill. 

Lucy nudged Alex out of the shower before the cold really hit, turning off the tap. A towel wrapped around her from behind. 

Alex kissed her cheek, then her lips, “Thank you.”

The door to the bathroom opened, and Maggie stepped in. “Morning!”

“Morning,” they chorused. 

Alex and Lucy peck Maggie on opposite cheeks and slide out to get the coffee started. 

They hear Maggie start the shower back up seconds later… and shriek at the ice cold water.

 

* * *

 

Lucy’s desk phone rang. She stared at it for a moment, confused. None of the important people in her life, J’onn included, would use that line, and the call ID was blocked. She pursed her lips and picked up the handset. “Major Lane.”

“Lucy.”

“General.” Lucy cleared her throat. “What can I do for you?”

“I hear National City has an alien problem.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “We have it under control, Dad.”

“Now Lucy-”

“The President herself put me in charge of the DEO, General,” Lucy said. She sat up straighter and threw her shoulders back as if he were in the room with her. “J’onn and I have this handled.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

Lucy gripped her pen hard enough for the plastic to creak in protest. 

“No, sir. I don’t think I will,” she said. “We handled Myriad. We handled CADMUS-”

“After having a  _ mole _ -”

“I’m sorry, who was it that lost control of CADMUS again?”

Lucy could feel her father seething through the line, his breath heavy and his words hissed through gritted teeth. 

“Lucy, I just want to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been doing a much better job of that lately than you have.” Lucy snorted. “Did you have something we  _ actually _ need to discuss on an encrypted government line?”

“Max Lord.”

Lucy paused. They hadn’t heard from him, aside from a cryptic line or two from her father, since Myriad. “What about Max Lord?”

“It wasn’t just the military who lost control of CADMUS, Lucy. It was co-lead by a civilian contractor.”

“Lord.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve been dealing with Lillian Luthor.”

“Since he disappeared,” the general huffed. “Lord, we could reign in on collateral damage. Luthor’s a crackpot just like her son, even if she has her points.”

“Yes, yes,” Lucy growled. “We’re all aware you’re team human. What’s your point?”

“She’s up to something.”

“She’s  _ always _ up to something. I’m going to need something more concrete than that.”

“I received an encrypted message yesterday. Near as I can tell, it was from Lord.”

Lucy’s heart missed a beat. “What did he say?”

“No idea, message was garbled and my techs can’t straighten it out.”

“I could-”

“No. I don’t trust your techs, and if Luthor catches wind of you being anywhere near Lord’s disappearance, you’ll be in more danger than you already are.”

Her fingers tightened around the handset. “Dad?”

“I’m sending over what we’ve been able to recover from the transmission via a trusted courier. You’ll get it soon, but keep it under wraps, you hear me?”

“Dad, what  _ the hell _ is going on?”

“Hopefully I’ll figure it out soon and you won’t have to worry about it.” General Lane grunted. “I love you, honey.”

“Dad?”

He hung up. 

Lucy listened to the dull hum of the line, her mind running a mile a minute. Her father was mixed up with something that may or may not have to do with CADMUS,  _ definitely _ had to do with the disappearance of Maxwell Lord, and it was dangerous.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

All she was sure of was that her father’s call left her more confused and worried than even the last time they spoke.

 

* * *

 

Lucy’s stomach growled the minute she cracked open the door to Alex’s apartment. Burgers. Yum. 

“What’s the occasion?”

“Apparently Danvers tried to interrogate a little kid with burgers today.”

Lucy froze, her hand hovering above the bowl, keys jingling. “Please tell me he had a legal guardian present.”

“It wasn’t an  _ interrogation _ ,” Alex protested. 

That wasn’t a yes. Lucy slowly set her keys down and tossed her jacket at the counter. “Alex Danvers,  _ please _ tell me he had someone present.”

Alex pursed her lips and twisted them off to the side. “Um. His mom’s the alien that went nuts at the park.”

“ _ Social services,  _ Danvers.”

“In light of the alien nature and the DEO, it was decided that he should remain as an… asset?”

“How old’s this kid?”

“About eleven,” Maggie offered helpfully.

“ _ Where _ is this kid?”

Alex raised her hands. “James took him after I couldn’t get him to talk. They bonded over him being Guardian, I guess.”

Lucy pinched her nose. She had to make concessions for her job, she knew that. National ( _ City)  _ Security came at a cost.  “Okay, well I suppose James is decent supervision.”

“ _ Thenthekidkindofblewupandnowhe’sincontainment _ .”

Maggie handed Lucy three fingers of bourbon.

Lucy threw it back and slumped heavily onto a barstool. She waved the glass in Maggie’s direction, silently asking for a refill.

Alex hesitantly slid into the seat next to Lucy, twisting her fingers. “J’onn and I have it handled though. There’s some kind of atmospheric disturbance causing them to lose control.”

Maggie hands Lucy another glass, half as full as last time. 

“What’s the plan?” Lucy sighed.

Alex pursed her lips and looked at Maggie. 

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Winn’s working on some kind of telekinetic containment field that will keep them from being affected. Burgers didn’t work, but James thinks he can get the kid to tell them where everyone’s hiding.”

“And your part?” Lucy narrowed her eyes.

“I… go home and rest.”

Lucy choked on her drink. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not cleared for fieldwork,” said Alex. She tugged at her sleeves. “J’onn wouldn’t have let me talk to Marcus if I wasn’t so good with kids… and alien kids… other than this time, I mean. I’m on administrative duty. No lab work either.”

Maggie slipped around the counter to lean into Alex’s back. She tangled her hands with Alex’s and rested her head on Alex’s shoulder. “Alex is being good.”

Lucy sipped at her drink. She eyed Alex wearily. “What about the disturbance?”

“J’onn, Kara, and Mon-El are going to check it out.”

“You’re not going?”

“I’m not cleared,” Alex shrugged. Her eyes darted to the side. “I figure I’ve worried you both enough for a while.”

Lucy swallowed the last of her drink. She tapped it on the countertop absently. “Thank you, Alex. I… we just want you to  _ heal _ before you throw yourself headfirst into danger again.”

Alex offered a small smile and a smaller shrug. “I’m working on it.”

“We see that,” Maggie agreed, pressing her lips to Alex’s cheek.

Lucy nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. I have to ask though… why burgers?”

“It worked for Kara.”

The truth of that statement seemed to break the tension. Lucy scooted her stool closer to Alex’s, and Maggie let go of Alex to swing her arms around both her girls. 

“As soon as we find his mom and and figure out how to solve whatever’s happening we’ll let him go, Luce. We know it’s not their fault, but we don’t want to give your dad a reason to come barging in here again.”

Lucy snorted and leaned back into Maggie. “He already knows.”

Alex jerked her head up. “What?”

“He called today.” Lucy shrugged, comforted in the soft brush of Maggie’s sleeve as her arm came up and down with Lucy’s shoulders. “Left me with nothing but questions as usual.”

“Questions about what?” asked Maggie.

“CADMUS. His role in everything.” Lucy smirked. “Alex’s ex-boyfriend.”

“Lord is back?” Alex asked.

Maggie’s eyebrows rose as Lucy lost it, howling with laughter.

“Just because I knew who you meant doesn’t mean I dated him,” Alex sighed, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms and legitimately pouted at Lucy, which did not help her calm down.

“You absolutely did,” Lucy gasped, tears beginning to roll down her face. “If I hadn’t kept you entertained after Myriad, you totally would have dated him before he disappeared.”

“ _ You take that back _ ,” Alex glared. 

“I was your lamppost guiding you back,” Lucy giggled. 

Maggie snorted. “Didn’t realize flannel and leather were a thing in Narnia.”

“Not you too!” Alex gasped. “You’re both assholes.”

“Assholes you  _ loooooove, _ ” Lucy cooed. She wiped at her eyes and threw her weight forward, wrapping her arms around Alex’s waist and balancing precariously between the two stools. “Admit it, your life is so much better now, isn’t it, baby?”

Alex kept pouting.. 

Maggie wrapped her other arm around Alex’s shoulders and kissed her cheek with a loud  _ smack! _ “You love it, babe.”

“I do,” Alex conceded with a glare. “I did  _ not _ date Lord though.”

She untangled Lucy’s arms and shoved her away, looking only slightly guilty when Lucy crashed to the floor. “You’re a little shit, Lane.”

Maggie laughed and slipped away to help Lucy off the ground. “She’s gotta keep us on our toes, huh, Danvers?”

“Mmhm. You’d think she’d want us flat on the ground so she wouldn’t need a step stool to look us in the eye.”

“Fuck you, Danvers.”

Alex smirked and looked pointedly at the bed. 

The stool came crashing to the floor as Lucy tugged her and Maggie both towards the bed, burgers long forgotten. 

 

* * *

 

Lucy found Alex in J’onn’s room in the medbay. “Any news?”

“No. He’s still trapped in his mind. Whatever Rhea did, it’s not wearing off.”

Lucy sighed and massaged at the tension in Alex’s neck. “It’s not your fault, Alex.”

“I should have been there.”

“Rhea tossed Baby Luthor like a sack of potatoes, Danvers.”

“I could have done  _ something _ ,” Alex huffed. She waved upwards. “Now we have  _ another _ alien invasion on our hands, and this time there’s more than two dozen of them.”

Lucy grimaced. “Yes, Marsdin isn’t particularly pleased about that.”

“I’m sure your father isn’t either.”

“Vasquez managed to block his blocked number,” Lucy grinned. “I love Vas.”

“Where are they?”

“Manning the desert base, keeping things operational. The last thing we need is any of them to escape on top of the Invaders Zim.”

Alex turned her head to glare. “Lane, this is serious.”

“It is. And as close as you are to J’onn, that’s why Marsdin asked me to come here rather than have you step up.”

Alex frowned. “I’m the deputy director.”

“And a damn fine one,” Lucy agreed. “But you’re also our alien biology expert, unless you think we should drag your mother into a warzone-”

“No!”

“-and we’re down a director.” Lucy tilted her head to the side. “Besides, when things get hairy, I’d rather be here, with you and Maggie, than trapped out in the desert unable to get back.”

Alex’s shoulders dropped. “I want you two safe.”

“El mayarah, Danvers. Deal with it.”

Alex snorted. She reached up to grip one of Lucy’s hands and squeeze. “Sawyer’s keeping tabs on the police force, they’re coordinating with the Emergency Management Coordinator to get the first responders wheel’s up at the first sign of trouble.”

Lucy nodded. “National Guard is on its way to form an anti-aircraft perimeter around the city, for what good that will do. We only have the one positron cannon.”

“They’re not coming into the city?”

“I came ahead of a convoy of backup from the desert on my bike,” Lucy sighed. “A Daxamite ship fired warning shots across the road in front of the convoy.”

Alex stiffened. “How many?”

“Just the road, thankfully. I ordered them to turn back after the lasers dug a crater across the I-5.”

“So we’re on our own.”

“We’re on our own,” Lucy agreed.

Alex cursed. 

Lucy patted her girlfriend’s shoulder. “An alien invasion and the fate of the world in our hands. Must be a Monday.”

Alex snorted, her eyes drifting back towards J’onn. “I sent out a message to M’gann. I don’t know if she got it, but I hope so.”

Lucy sat on the edge of J’onn’s bed. “He’ll be okay, Alex. He’s a fighter.”

“He’s been like a father to me, Luce. I can’t lose him.”

“You won’t. He won’t leave his kids to face Queen of the Damned by themselves.”

“I don’t know how he does it,” Alex shook her head. “He watches us go out and face things that could kill us day in and day out. I don’t know if I could do that with our kids.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. It took her a moment to be able to breathe again. “You think about us having kids?”

“Well, yeah. I’ve always wanted to be a mom.”

“Since  _ when _ ?”

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. Always. I’d see moms out with their kids when I was growing up, and I’d, you know, I’d want what they had. Even when I couldn’t make relationships work, I still thought about being a mom one day.”

“Yeah, I used to think that too, until I realized I had a competency kink and military moms did it for me,” Lucy snarked. 

“Do you not… don’t you want kids?” Alex asked, eyes wide.

Lucy shrugged. “Not really. I mean, don’t get me wrong, James and I would have had  _ beautiful  _ babies. And if they’d come along, I would have dealt with it, because I knew he wanted them. But, Alex, with what we do? There isn’t a safe parent among the three of us, you know. And I  _ had _ a safe parent growing up. I had mom. And then I didn’t, I just had dad, who threw himself into work to avoid thinking about her. And you had  _ two _ safe parents for most of your life. You lost one anyway. Maggie’s gave her up.”

“I think we’d be great parents  _ because _ of that.”

“Maybe. But kids scare the shit out of me, Alex.” Lucy pursed her lips. “I’m not saying never, you know? This is definitely something we should talk about with Maggie, because I never even knew you felt that way, and I have  _ no clue _ how Maggie feels about kids. But you’ve been mom-ing Kara most of your life. You’re finally living  _ you _ , and I just… I don’t know, if I were you I’d want to explore that now, because that’s complicated enough without adding kids to the mix.”

Lucy watched Alex carefully. This was unfamiliar territory for both of them, a mix of fear and feelings all in one uncomfortable conversation. She meant what she said, she had always been rather ambivalent towards children. Maggie had never said a word either way, but Lucy could only begin to envision how badly this could go. 

“I’m with you and Maggie. You two are it for me, what’s left to explore?”

“The box under the bed, for one. I hear kids cut down on that kind of thing,” Lucy snickered. 

“Lucy!” Alex flushed red.

“Spacedad is asleep,” Lucy reasoned. “He has enough nightmares, he won’t even think about what I’m doing to his daughter at night.”

“Oh my god!”

“Yeah, I get a lot of that from you, but there’s usually less clothing involved.”

Alex closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“I’m reporting you to Pam for inappropriate workplace behavior.”

“You are not, whiner.”

Alex cracked a smile. “No. But I should probably talk to Henderson about it.”

“Doctor Henderson is a good idea,” Lucy agreed. She tried to keep the shock out of her voice. Alex volunteering to talk at therapy was almost unheard of. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d be a great mom, Danvers… but you’d be the first of us I’d bench to make sure someone came home to the kid.”

“ _ Me? _ ”

“Yes, you. You never wear your goddamn helmet, it sets a horrible example.”

“Statistically it’s much safer to go into a DEO mission without a helmet than to ride a bike without one. And I wear one on my bike.”

“Statistically speaking your propensity for horrible decisions makes you an outlier and  _ you are not counted in workplace injury reports _ .”

“You love me.”

“I do. I prefer you alive.”

“I wouldn’t love you if you benched me just because we had kids.”

“Are you seriously getting mad at me for hypothetically benching you because of our hypothetical kids?”

Alex pouted. “Maybe I should bring it up at couples therapy.”

Couples therapy had been Lucy’s insistence after the events of Jeremiah. Alex’s anger, Lucy’s need to please, Maggie’s reticence, there were a boatload of issues between them that could easily tear them apart. Kids wouldn’t be the worst of the issues, but they could be a dealbreaker if the conversation wasn’t handled right. 

Left to their own, it probably wouldn’t be.

“That’s probably a good idea, Danvers.” Lucy paused. “But maybe we should talk with Mags first before blindsiding her, yeah?”

“Mmhmm. Yeah,” Alex agreed. 

“In the meantime, let’s leave J’onn to his nap. We need to get a plan together to save the world.”

“Save the cheerleader, save the world.”

“Do a good job and maybe I’ll pull out my old cheerleading uniform,” Lucy smirked.

She snickered when Alex tripped over thin air, catching herself on the doorway. 

Some things would never get old. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @bathtimefunduck if you ever wanna say hi. 
> 
> If you're so inclined, I do have a ko-fi under the same name. Can't guarantee the next bits (or planned season 3) will come any faster, but coffee helps keep me awake during rare hours off XD


	21. Episode 21: Airborne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Invasion happens and Lucy develops an ulcer. The women in her life, romantically attached or not, do _not_ help matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>   
> 
> Thanks to [@salamadersaurus-rex](http://salamadersaurus-rex.tumblr.com/) and [@sapphicscholarwrites](http://sapphicscholarwrites.tumblr.com)for edits. Technically I should thank Vi too, but she didn't want to edit so much as get to read it before she went to work.

**Airborne**

 

Wave after wave of Daxamites descended on National City. Lucy ordered the evacuation of the medbay (including J’onn) because it was only a matter of time before the DEO came under attack. Better to get them out while they still could, rather than attempt to get them out under fire.

Rhea’s face filled the screen again, already off on some tangent about the greater good and surrendering.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She glanced over to where Alex was pacing the command center and staring at her screen.

“No word from Maggie?”

Alex shook her head.

Lucy frowned and glanced over at Winn.

“Her phone’s registering at the station, boss.” Winn checked his screen. “Hang on-- check-”

Alex’s phone rang. She flipped it to speaker immediately. “Danvers!”

“I’m at the station.”

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.

“They’re everywhere. The Daxamite troops are everywhere.”

Lucy and Alex shared a look.

“We have transmat signatures all across downtown!” Winn confirmed. “Our satellites are down.”

“Danvers, Lane, I…”

“Maggie?” Alex cursed and shoved her phone in her pocket. She looked up at the other agents. “They’ve attacked NCPD.”

“Is Maggie safe?” Winn asked.

Lucy and Alex shared another look.

“What are we going to do?” he asked, looking between them.

The air shimmered. Lucy and Alex immediately reached for their sidearms.

Winn reached out and dragged Lucy forward. “No!”

Alex shot.

A Daxamite dropped behind where Lucy had just stood.

“Evacuate, now!” Lucy shouted, ducking and barely missing more fire.

She and Alex shoved Winn down behind the comm table, taking cover. She flinched as another agent fell.

Lucy reached for her backup piece, pulling it out of her ankle holster. She pressed it into Winn’s hands. “Get out of here, Winn.”

“But-”

“Go!” Alex grunted, standing to draw fire.

Lucy popped up after her, practically shoving him out of the way, cursing when he popped back to grab his tablet. “Schott, I swear to god!”

She and Alex ducked down again, Alex reaching up to her earpiece. “Supergirl! We’re under attack!”

Lucy reached up to fire blindly over the table as another agent fell.

“We evacuated the DEO.”

Lucy’s earpiece crackled. Supergirl’s worried voice rang in her ear, “Hang on! I’m almost there.”

“There’s no time!” Alex shook her head and laid down cover fire for Winn to make it to the stairs. “We’ll meet you outside.”

Alex jerked Lucy up and towards the balcony.

“What the fuck are you doing, Danvers?” Lucy ducked and fired uselessly at the Daxamites.

“C’mon, Luce.” Alex panted, racing for the balcony. She slid under the swing of a Daxamite staff, reaching again for Lucy. “Hold tight!”

“What are you-” Alex’s free hand wrapped around Lucy’s waist squeezing her tightly as Alex spun around and fired off a few more shots from her blaster.

The next thing Lucy knew, she was free-falling, the force of gravity nearly dragging her out of Alex’s arms. She reached forward frantically to wrap her arms around Alex’s neck. She didn’t have the breath to scream, digging her nails into Alex’s uniform as the ground rushed towards them.

She had just closed her eyes when they jerked upward, an extra arm wrapped around her.

“We need to get you somewhere safe,” said Supergirl.

“When we get there,” Lucy muttered into Alex’s ear, “I am going to _kill you_.”

“Love you, too, Lucy,” Alex grinned.

 

* * *

 

The moment Supergirl’s boots touched the ground, Lucy wriggled free from Alex and headed straight for the bar. She passed groups of DEO agents and allied aliens (even Brian was helping stack boxes of evacuated supplies), and the look on her face was enough to part the crowds.

“Heeeey, Major! I’m glad to see you and Alex-”

Lucy held up a finger in Winn’s direction. The bartender raised an eyebrow and reached for the strongest human-safe bourbon the bar carried. Lucy tossed back one shot, then another. After a third, she turned away from the bartender with a nod to find Winn and Alex staring at her.

Alex looked entirely too amused.

Winn glanced between them. “How- how did you two get out?”

“ _Danvers_ here threw us off a _balcony_.”

Winn blinked.

Alex smirked. “Kara caught us.”

“Do you have any idea how close we were to the ground?”

“I knew she’d catch us.” Alex quirked an eyebrow. “Didn’t you trust me?”

“Hurtling through the air to become a human pancake? _No_.” Lucy squinted. “How the hell did she know to do that?”

“We came up with it after the switch to the city base.”

“Just in case?”

“Yeah, just in case.”

Lucy pursed her lips and nodded. “Go check on J’onn, Danvers. Before I strangle you.”

“Still can’t reach my throat, Lane.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I bent you over a table, Danvers.”

Alex turned red and beat a hasty retreat. Winn’s eyes widened, and he seemed at a loss for anything to say.

“Did you have a question, Schott?”

“Nope. No ma’am. No questions here, boss lady.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lucy was coordinating patrols with Agents Benson and Marquez when James strolled in, Guardian gear intact and his big bald head shiny with perspiration. She was willing to admit feeling a little bit of relief that he was okay.

A little bit.

But he wasn’t Maggie.

They still hadn’t heard from her.

Cell towers were down, and she didn’t have an earpiece.

Lucy was kicking herself for following protocol this time.

Supergirl and Alex rushed out from the makeshift medical center to give James hugs.

Lucy leaned back against the bar and crossed her arms. She wasn’t _that_ glad to see him.

He nodded at her. “It’s a war zone out there. The Daxamite troops are beaming down from everywhere, setting up checkpoints, arresting resisters. It’s almost like they’re instituting their own martial law.”

“Yeah, well, not to mention the full-on _Independence Day_ going on out there with the mothership hovering over the city,” Winn said, waving his hand over his head.

“Mon-El’s on that ship,” said Kara. She frowned, shrugging off her sister. “Rhea took him… and she took Lena, too.”

“Have you reached Clark yet?” James asked.

“I called Perry White before the lines went down. He’s not at the _Daily Planet_ ,” Kara shrugged. “He’s not at the Fortress of Solitude either. And I couldn’t reach Lois before I lost signal.”

“Maybe Superman’s out there right now, fighting in the streets,” Alex said.

Lucy frowned.

“If he is, I didn’t see him.”

Lucy’s head shot up, but Alex must have seen her first. She was already running towards the door towards Maggie.

Maggie, disheveled and out of breath, and so, so alive.

“Maggie!”

Maggie held out her arms even as Alex reached for her face and pulled her into a brief kiss.

“I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Alex said, swallowing harshly.

Lucy reached them, slipping into their arms and burying her head in Maggie’s shoulder. The leather of her jacket was warm, her hair smelled of smoke and gunpowder and sweat. She nuzzled deeper, unmoving as Maggie kissed the top of her head.

“And I’m so glad that when things look their worst, we all thought to run straight to a bar,” Maggie laughed.

Lucy poked her head up with a glare. “Some of us weren’t given the choice to _run_ because _some of us_ were thrown off a building.”

Maggie’s smile froze. “What?”

“That was the plan, Lane, there was no way out of the building!”

Lucy shoved at Alex. “A little warning would have been nice!”

“We’re all together,” interrupted Supergirl. “We can fight back.”

“Where do we start?” asked James.

“Well, without the DEO mainframe we’re flying blind,” Lucy said as she pulled away from their little huddle.

“Not to mention the Daxamite military patrolling the streets,” Maggie added.

“J’onn’s not here to lead us,” Alex frowned. “I mean, we have Lucy.”

“Gee thanks, Danvers.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it! You can’t phase through walls, and you sure as hell aren’t bulletproof.” Alex squeezed Lucy’s arm. “Promise me you won’t go out there. You’ve been hurt too many times _ever_ , let alone the past few months.”

“I can’t do that, Danvers, and you know it.”

“Maybe I can be of service.”

They spun as a group.

Lillian Luthor.

The woman wasn’t moved in the slightest when every field agent in the bar, plus Maggie, pulled their weapons out and aimed them at her.

Lucy noted Winn slowly shifting behind the bulletproof alien. Maybe he was learning something after all.

“What?” Luthor asked. “Not happy to see me?”

“You must have ovaries of steel to walk in here, lady,” Lucy growled.

“You people are so predictable.”

“Hands above your head,” said Alex, moving closer.

“No.”

Lucy and Maggie flanked Alex as they approached the unconcerned giant.

“You made a mistake coming here,” Alex continued, her free hand balling into a fist.

Lucy gave it 50/50 odds that Alex would drop the gun and simply deck the woman. And honestly, Lucy wouldn’t have blamed her one bit. Lillian Luthor was everything she despised about her father: the bigotry, the arrogance, the xenophobia.

But her father was, at least to a certain extent, curtailed by the orders of the President.

This woman was just a nutjob whose only tether to humanity was a headcase buried in the deepest lockup the actual justice system had clearance to know about.

“I find it as distasteful as you do, Supergirl, but I need your help.” Luthor forced a smile. “And you need mine.”

“Where’s my father?” Alex demanded.

Lucy’s lips twitched a little. Luthor was no idiot; she swung her attention back to Alex, and her alien gun, at the question.

“I don’t know.”

Alex stepped closer, holding the gun to Luthor’s chest. “That’s the wrong answer.”

Luthor glanced down and then back up at Alex. “Well, it’s the truth.”

And dammit if Lucy didn’t believe her. “Stand down, Danvers. She’s not lying.”

Alex dropped the gun and looked away. She looked up at Lucy and nodded. Alex trusted her, this time. She had, after all, called out Alex herself even after she’d beaten a lie detector.

Maggie and Lucy didn’t drop their guns though.

“Alright. What do you want?” asked Supergirl.

Lucy moved more to the side to let Supergirl approach, but she didn’t lower her weapon. She winked as Maggie kept a clear shot for herself as well.

“To take down our common enemy,” stated Luthor.

“Everything I warned against has come to pass,” she continued, shoving past Alex and Supergirl. “The alien invaders have come to destroy our way of life and claim our planet, just as I said they would.”

She dropped her gloves on the bar and settled into a chair. “Now how about we put away those weapons and talk business, shall we?”

Lucy pursed her lips and stared down the taller woman. She grit her teeth and nodded, dropping her weapon back into its holster. Her agents followed her lead, Maggie hesitating only a second longer.

“You can just say, ‘I told you so,’” Winn snarked.

“I did tell you so,” she agreed. Luthor turned to Lucy and stared. “As did your father. And Maxwell Lord.”

Lucy froze.

“Now you can shoot me. Or we can work together. And we can save our loved ones _and_ this city.”

“You mean your daughter that you kidnapped and framed?” Supergirl asked sarcastically.

“Mm yeah,” Lucy agreed. “Didn’t she leave her for dead with the exploding synthetic Kryptonite too? I mean, the radiation damage to humans is surprisingly minimal but _wow_ , yeah no, that concussive blast would have shredded her.”

“Now, Major Lane, I knew she’d be fine.”

Maggie snorted. “You know, my pops said the same thing when he dropped me at the side of the road and never looked back.”

“And here we are. You’ve done well for yourself, Detective.”

“And just like Lena, she did it all _in_ _spite_ of her parents,” Lucy replied.

Maggie nodded. “We’re going to save this city. But we will never work with you.”

“That’s right,” James said as he walked away. “We got this.”

“Don’t let your pride get in the way of your objective, Agent Danvers.” Luthor stood. “That ship is armed with Kryptonite cannons.”

“Danvers isn’t the one in charge here, Luthor. And I have no inclination to work with you either.”

“Major Lane. Your father had such hopes for you.” Luthor shrugged. “You have no transmat portal and the Daxamites have upgraded their shields. I need your help to get on that ship.”

“Even if we wanted to,” Alex shared a look with Lucy. “Like you said, there’s no way on board.”

“So sure about that?” Luthor smirked.

Lucy was one more smirk away from knocking out the Evil Queen herself. Even if she had to stand on something to do it.

“What are you saying?” Kara asked.

“I’m asking you to work with me. Together we find Lena and Mon-El. Together we can save them.”

“You’ve said your piece. Now leave,” Alex demanded.

Luthor huffed and went back for her gloves. She leered down at Alex. “You’re making a mistake, Agent Danvers.”

She stopped by Lucy too. “I never thought I’d see a Lane on a leash, but here we are. You’re just as disappointing as my daughter.”

“I’ve never felt so proud,” Lucy snapped.

Her last stop was Supergirl for one more plea.

“I understand why you don’t trust me. But whatever happened in our past, I’m asking you to leave it there. The love I feel for my daughter is real. Please, Kara,” she begged. “Help me save her.”

Lucy watched as Supergirl wavered, wanting to think the best of even Lillian Luthor. But Supergirl grit her teeth and shook off the pleading touch.

“Get out.”

Luthor sighed, looking genuinely upset. She pulled something out of her pocket, and Lucy reached for her gun. She let go at the sight of a small cell phone.

“Please. So you can reach me if you change your mind.”

It was Kara, not Supergirl, who took it. Lucy shook her head.

They let Luthor walk out of the bar unharmed without much choice. They had no holding cells, and bigger fish to fry.

That didn’t stop Lucy hating herself a little.

“I think Guardian and I should get back out there, see what we can do,” said Maggie.

“Sawyer, _no_.” Lucy said, spinning around.

“That’s a good idea,” Alex disagreed. “We can’t just sit here while the city burns. James has his comm, and they’ll look out for each other.”

Lucy frowned.

Alex did too. “Major, we’re down a lot of men, and we don’t know when, or _if_ , we’ll get reinforcements.”

“Call us if you need us,” Lucy sighed.

Maggie nodded and left with James rather than saying goodbye.

Alex let out a shuddering breath.

Lucy sat on a stool and pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her agent’s waist and holding tight, protocols be damned. It was only a matter of time before Alex headed out too, and Lucy needed something to ground her, at least for a little while.

 

* * *

 

Winn’s makeshift computer began to beep ominously.

Lucy lifted her head from between Alex’s shoulder blades and looked over.

Winn’s face was not very reassuring. “Uh, guys, I just picked up on some sort of live transmission… from Air Force One.”

“Oh sweet Jesus,” Lucy muttered. She pushed Alex away so she could get up and see what else could possibly go wrong.

“Air Force One?” Supergirl asked.

“Wait, don’t tell me the President is heading towards conflict and not away,” said Alex.

“Every time I feel like I can’t get happier I voted for that woman,” Supergirl laughed breathlessly.

Lucy side-eyed Supergirl, who in spite of her support had never registered for Amnesty and lived her life off of forged documents because the President had yet to make good on a loophole for capes. “Voter fraud aside, can you bring it up, Winn?”

“Can I bring it up? Psh,” he said, typing away. He hit the enter button loudly and sat back in satisfaction.

Rhea’s face lit up one screen, President Marsdin’s on the other.

Lucy pinched her nose.

 _“National city is mine, and you should be thankful that that is all I am currently taking from you,”_ said Rhea.

 _“The militaries of Earth will unite against you,”_ Marsdin promised.

_“I am not afraid of your trembling little militaries.”_

_“Stand down,”_ Marsdin ordered.

 _“‘Stand down’?”_ Rhea huffed. _“I think you are confusing this situation with one in which you have any sort of negotiating leverage.”_

Lucy inhaled. “Supergirl, get ready to get airborne.”

Alex wrapped her arms around herself, leaning her shoulder into Lucy’s.

Every woman in her life, no matter how peripheral, seemed dead set on giving her a heart attack, Lucy was sure of it. She could only imagine how much her father would gloat about the liberal hippie flying to her doom, no matter how ballsy the move.

_“This is not a negotiation, this is a demand.”_

_“You speak to me like that again,”_ Rhea warned, _“and you will feel the consequences.”_

 _“Oh my god, enough,”_ huffed a voice that, while expressing Lucy’s exact feelings, did absolutely nothing to make her confident this situation would end well.

Cat Grant.

“ _Ms. Grant??_ ” Supergirl inhaled.

 _“All right, ladies!”_ said Cat.

“Schott, port the audio to Supergirl’s comm.” Lucy grit her teeth. “Supergirl, get up there and back up Air Force One.”

 _“Ladies, if I wanted to listen to this adolescent macho-posturing-”_ said Cat.

“The Kryptonite-”

Lucy waved her hand at Alex. “Defensive maneuvers only. Keep yourself safe up there; you’re the escape plan.”

Supergirl nodded and took off running.

 _“-I would have stayed in D.C.,”_ Cat continued. She turned to Marsdin. _“Is this really who you want to be? Testosterone-driven windbags, boasting about your big guns?”_

Lucy snorted.

Cat put her hand on her waist and made a face. _“Surely we don’t need to measure anything. We’re women. We’re tough, we’re wise, and we’re way above this pettiness. So let’s just roll up our sleeves and talk peace.”_

“Approaching Air Force One,” Supergirl murmured into her comms.

“Hang back and wait,” Lucy ordered.

 _“I’m sorry, who are you?”_ asked Rhea.

_“I’m Cat. Grant. Known on Earth as Queen of All Media.”_

“What is Cat _doing_?” Supergirl gasped.

“Giving me an ulcer,” Lucy replied.

Alex and Winn snickered, their eyes never leaving the screen.

 _“Oh,”_ Rhea chuckled. _“Well, Cat Grant, I’m Rhea, and Earth now has a new Queen.”_

 _“Ohhh.”_ Cat murmured condescendingly.

Lucy thought President Marsdin looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh.

And a little bit like Cat was her favorite snack, but that was a thought for later.

 _“Well, let me just give you a little piece of friendly advice, Rhea. That tiara that you have on the top of your head? It’s overkill,”_ Cat said, waving a hand over her head. _“Real royals? They don’t need to try that hard.”_

 _“The thing is,”_ Cat continued. _“Is that I have brokered peace between Kanye and Taylor Swift, so I think mediating peace between our two worlds should be a piece of cake.”_

“Oh my god,” Lucy sighed.

 _“And the future is female, we’ve all read the t-shirts. So we are three strong, formidable women,”_ Cat paused to make eye contact with both Rhea and Marsdin. _“And we can do anything we want. So let’s just talk it out and come up with a harmonious solution, shall we?”_

“Oh my god,” Supergirl agreed.

And she couldn’t even see Rhea’s face.

Lucy just wanted a long, happy life, preferably spent mostly naked with her two favorite lesbians. Was that really too much to ask?

But no, it was May, which lately, seemed worse than any presidential election cycle and even more Doomsday than usual.

 _“As I said, I’m Earth’s new Queen. I don’t confab, I command._ _This conversation is over_ ,” _said Rhea._

Her screen abruptly returned to whatever Winn had been monitoring.

“They’re firing!” Supergirl shouted.

“Get the President out of there, Supergirl,” Lucy ordered.

Supergirl’s comm sounded off with explosions. Lucy reached for Alex and squeezed. Without the DEO’s satellites, they had no eyes in the sky.

“Air Force One is down,” Supergirl whispered.

Lucy gripped Alex’s arm harder.

“Supergirl, what is the status of President Marsdin?”

Static was all they heard.

“Supergirl, what is the status? Are there any survivors?”

Whooshing air was the only response for a minute. Two minutes. Three minutes.

“Supergirl,” Lucy growled. “What is the survivor count?”

The rush of air stopped.

“I caught Cat after she was blown out of the plane,” Supergirl whispered in a hushed voice. “No sign of President Marsdin.” Supergirl paused. “Oh my god, the President!”

“ _Oh my God, the President_!”

“Supergirl?”

“Uh, I suppose I owe you an explanation,” came Marsdin’s voice.

“Well, at least tell me you’re still a Democrat,” Cat huffed.

Lucy inhaled sharply and counted to ten.

The President was alive.

She clearly shouldn’t be.

But she was alive. And so was Cat. Those were both very good things.

The ulcer burning a hole in her stomach not so much, but Lucy could deal with that later.

At least she wouldn’t have to deal with losing the President of the United States because the hometown hero in red and blue had a thing for CEOs.

She looked at Alex. “I hope you know I’m going to kill your sister.”

Alex laughed in relief.

 

* * *

 

“Madam President, thank god you’re alive!” Alex said.

“Yes, isn’t it remarkable,” Cat drolled.

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at her old boss, wondering what the hell happened out there.

“Ms. Grant, you’re alive too!” Winn said with obvious relief.

“What did you think, Winslow? My city is under siege,” Cat said, accepting his hug and pretending that both the hug and using Winn’s given name were perfectly normal things for her to do.

Then again, Lucy was surprised her former boss set foot in such a dingy bar. Clearly the end of the world called for some exceptions to Cat’s strict rules and germophobia.

President Marsdin rubbed at her forehead, pressing against the stress points and looking far more tired than the last time she’d almost been killed in National City.

“Did you think I would allow myself to die?” Cat huffed.

“You’re giving my sister a run for her money, Cat,” Lucy snorted.

Cat offered a wan smile and pushed her way between Alex and Winn. Lucy was just tired enough to nearly lose her composure at Alex’s doubletake and the way her girlfriend’s eyes briefly dropped.

“I’m a little shaken up, I could use a moment to collect myself,” Marsdin muttered. “Is there a restroom somewhere?”

“Right around the corner, ma’am,” said Lucy.

“Thank you, Director.”

Lucy watched her go with a frown.

“Supergirl, I understand you setting up your little rebel headquarters in a dive bar,” Cat said, waving at the decor. “It’s very French Resistance. But what are all these monitors these satellites… and these handsome, armed men dressed in black?”

“That’s classified, Ms. Grant.”’

Cat pursed her lips. “Really, Better Lane, I expected you to have left my employment for some grand adventure, not some government blacksite.”

Lucy’s lips twitched. “Plenty of adventure to be found, ma’am.”

Cat’s eyes flicked over to Alex and then to Supergirl. “Mmhm. I suppose I should have expected you, Agent Scully. Shall I pretend to worry that your sister is safe?”

Lucy raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh as Alex and Supergirl spluttered.

“Useless Danvers and Catnip, honestly,” she muttered to herself. “We’re the DEO, Ms. Grant. As one of Marsdin’s top advisors, I’m sure you’ve been read in.”

“I know you exist.”

“We’re devoted to protecting the planet from extraterrestrial threats,” said Alex.

“I see. Bang up job you’ve done there,” Cat murmured as she wandered over to Winn’s monitors.

He slid between them in one of the least smooth moves Lucy had seen since the last time Kara and Lena were in the same room together. “Hi, uh, hi Ms. Grant. How… how did you get on Air Force One?”

Cat smirked. “Oh, it was just kismet that I happened to be in D.C. with the Dalai Lama when the Daxamites invaded, and I just hitched a ride with Olivia.”

“Olivia,” Winn laughed. “As in, you know, leader-of-the-free-world-Olivia. Psh.”

“Yeah, she was my RA at Radcliffe.” Cat paused and frowned. “And I’m having a vague memory of… walking into the bathroom… and seeing E.T. in a bathrobe.”

Supergirl’s jaw dropped.

“And I thought it was the pot brownies.”

Winn’s eyes bulged.

Lucy was having the time of her life, honestly. She’d missed Cat Grant. For all her rules and order, she created a special kind of chaos in her wake.

“But now I’m realizing it was _actually_ E.T.”

Lucy squinted. She glanced between Cat and the hallway that the President had disappeared down. “Is that how-?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex shook her head. “What exactly are you saying?”

“I’m sorry, did I not make myself clear?” Cat asked petulantly. “Our leader-of-the-free-world-Olivia is an alien.”

“Okay,” Winn laughed. “Okay, our President is not an alien.”

He glanced over his shoulder and flinched back. “Oh my god! Our president is an alien!”

Lucy felt the ulcer in her stomach return. She dug into a pocket for the container of Tums she’d appropriated earlier and threw back three of them before turning around.

Sure enough, there was a reptilian humanoid returning from the bathroom in the President’s clothes. The alien rolled (her? Lucy wasn’t sure anymore) it’s neck and stretched out, as if Olivia Marsdin’s skin was a cramped place to inhabit.

“I assume you all are a little frightened, but I assure you I mean you no harm,” said Olivia as she returned to her human form.

“Obviously,” Cat snarked. “Otherwise I would have been stabbed in the back by you that night at college when your fiancé flung himself at me.”

Lucy rather thought Supergirl’s brain was short circuiting at all of this new information. That, or she was about to hurl.

Cat spun around, placing herself between Olivia and the rest of them. “Clearly, she’s a pacifist. And darling, I love you just the way you are, scales and all.”

Lucy’s eyebrows shot up.

Cat took a call and wandered off, comparing her latest near-death experience to dinner with Bill O’Reilly, leaving behind a bunch of confused former-employees, Alex, and a President smiling very fondly in the direction of Cat’s retreating ass.

Really Lucy needed to accept that the only truly straight person she’d ever met was Mon-El, and even then, his personality screamed overcompensation.

She shook her head in disbelief. “Madam President, would you like a drink? This bar caters to some… exotic tastes… that you might enjoy?”

“That would be wonderful, Director Lane.”

 

\--

 

Lucy, Supergirl, and Alex sat across from the President, with Winn standing behind Alex. The President looked tired, and sad.

Lucy had seen that look before.

On Kara, whenever something reminded her of Krypton.

“I was born on this beautiful planet, Durla. And when the invaders came, we hoped for the best, and did nothing. Within a year, my people were enslaved.” She sighed. “I was one of the few to escape.”

“Well, now I understand why you’re so sympathetic to alien refugees,” Supergirl murmured.

“Yes.” Marsdin swallowed harshly and played with her empty glass. “I would appreciate it if you all would… keep my secret. I can only imagine the fallout from this information.”

“And the steps back from progress, considering how much conservatives would play up that not only are you not human, you're not even American-born,” said Lucy. “Which _is_ a requirement for Presidency.”

“I’ve never understood how being born on American soil somehow ensures more loyalty than someone who spent the years it takes to gain citizenship.”

“Your secret’s safe with us,” Alex promised.

Marsdin sat back and cleared her throat, ready for a subject change. “Mmhmm. J’onn J’onzz is still injured. That leaves Director Lane in sole command, with you as her second, Agent Danvers.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Alex and Lucy.

“Danvers is the best field agent in the city, correct, Director?”

Lucy did _not_ like where this is going. “She is, ma’am.”

Marsdin nodded. “Great. Danvers, you’ll lead a team to break into the DEO. Director Lane can coordinate from here. You’ll need to access the positron cannon mounted on the roof.”

“I’m sorry.  We have a positron cannon? Like a vaporizes-anything-it-shoots positron cannon?” Winn clarified.

Lucy clenched her jaw and tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut… and the slowly dawning comprehension on Supergirl’s face.

“You are to fire on and destroy the Daxamite supership,” Marsdin ordered.

“There are civilians on that ship! _Friends!_ ” Supergirl argued. “ _Lena Luthor_ , an American citizen, was kidnapped and is being held _hostage_ on that ship!”

“The Daxamites shot down Air Force One. Make no mistake, they have the intent to destroy us. The terrible lessons I learned on Durla _will not_ be repeated.” Marsdin stared at Supergirl until she blinked, moving on to Alex. “Destroy those ships. _That is an order_.”

Lucy closed her eyes and exhaled sharply.

She had a lot of planning to do to avoid the effects of Lucy’s Law, and not a lot of time to do it in.

 

* * *

 

“Where’s the President?” asked Supergirl.

Lucy rubbed at her eyes. “I snuck her into the tunnels. Two agents are escorting her to the desert base - hopefully they can avoid the checkpoints and the perimeter that the Daxamites set up around the city.”

“If this plan doesn’t work, she’s going to need to lead this country,” Alex agreed.

“You’re not actually thinking of going through with this? Mon-El and Lena are still up there!”

“We know,” Lucy groaned. “Given choice in the matter, I would have sent Danvers with the President and sent someone neutral to the cannon. But orders are orders.”

“What would J’onn say?” Supergirl snarked.

“He would tell us to blow up the ship,” Alex replied.

“And if he didn’t, I’d overrule him and do it anyway,” Lucy added.

Supergirl cleared her throat and looked away, blinking back tears.

“At least with the positron cannon, we have a chance to save the people of National City. We don’t have a choice.”

“There’s got to be another way,” Kara - and it was Kara - said, choking on her words. “Lena has saved this city too! She deserves a _chance!”_

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “This is one time you can’t fix it, Kara.”

“Imagine if it were Maggie,” Kara hissed. She looked from Lucy to Alex. “Imagine if it were either of you.”

“I can,” Alex said, swallowing. “Which is why this is so hard.”

“I don’t have to,” said Lucy. “I’ve already lived it.”

“We have orders, I’m so sorry,” Alex pleaded.

Kara pulled out of her sister’s reach, cape twisting in the sudden air current. “I need to get some air.”

Lucy and Alex watched her stomp away.

“I’ve almost lost you so many times this year,” Lucy murmured. “And I know it’s part of the job- I know Maggie isn’t any safer, not really. Even if _she_ regularly remembers her protective gear.”

Alex snorted, turning to face her girlfriend, a sad smile on her face. “I have messed up so many times- with you and Maggie. I tried to self-sabatage every time. I… I’d never forgive myself if you were up there.”

Lucy snorted. “You actually were. You were nearly shot across the galaxy, you essentially would have _died_ , even if you made it back to earth in this lifetime. I never would have forgiven myself for not trying harder to get through to you.”

“You did.” Alex made a face. “I was an ass, and hurt, and just… stubborn.”

“I committed treason to rescue you once,” Lucy tilted her head. “I wasn’t even in love with you.”

“Mon-El-”

Lucy reached out and gripped Alex’s hand. She tugged the agent closer. “You and I both know that Mon-El isn’t the one she compared to our girlfriend.”

Alex groaned and dropped her head to Lucy’s shoulder. “Lena nearly dies almost as often as we do!”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit, your sister has great taste in CEOs.”

Alex lifted her head to glare.

“Don’t look at me like that. I saw you check out Cat’s ass after she sassed the President. You _totally_ have a type.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.” Lucy reached up and chastely kissed Alex. “Now come on, we need to come up with Plan S squared.”

“Plan S-squared?”

“Plan Super Stupid.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“Lucy’s Law is totally a thing. Your sister’s going to try to rescue her Lois, you’re going to cave and give her time, and we’re all risking being called up on treason, _again_ , to help.”

Alex made a face. “We have orders.”

“ _Name one goddamned time that ever stopped you.”_

Alex paused to think of something.

Lucy was entirely unsurprised that she couldn’t come up with anything.

 

* * *

 

“How can we work with CADMUS?” Alex whispered fiercely. “ _We’ve been fighting them for a_ **_year_ **. We cannot trust them!”

Lucy leaned against the bar and crossed her arms.

“I know, but we need them,” Kara argued. “We have to try.”

Alex’s crinkle was in full force, her hand motions jerked as she tried to restrain herself.

Really, Alex had been Kara’s sister for more than a decade. Alex was _the reason_ Kara became Supergirl.

She should be used to everyone’s favorite alien doing stupid things for the people she loved.

Lucy shook her head and followed after the Disaster Sisters towards Luthor and The Real Hank Henshaw ™ .

Kara dropped her voice to once again become Supergirl. “You said you had a plan?”

“Yes,” said Lillian. “When Henshaw was at the Fortress of Solitude…”

“Breaking in, stealing a deadly virus, and using it to kill aliens in this very bar?” Alex asked tersely.

Lillian rolled her eyes. “He discovered your cousin keeps a Phantom Zone projector among his Kryptonian artifacts.”

“A projector?” Winn asked. He frowned skeptically. “That sounds kind of low-tech.”

“They used it to beam the prisoners instantaneously to Fort Rozz,” Supergirl said.

“That is very high tech,” Winn corrected.

“I can repurpose it to beam us onboard the Daxamite spacecraft,” Cyborg Henshaw said.

Lucy glanced around their faces. “And how, exactly, will you return? I thought Fort Rozz was a one-way street.”

Lillian shrugged. “We need your help to get the projector, and we’ll bring you aboard. We’ll bring you aboard with us and figure out how to use Daxam’s portal technology to get back down.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” said Alex. She glanced at Supergirl. “Remind me which part we need _them_ for?”

“My cybernetic core has been enhanced. I can interface with the onboard Daxamite computer system, giving me the way back _off_ the ship. And we can pass through undetected,” said Henshaw.

Winn blinked. “Cool.”

Lucy assumed he was impressed. Interfacing with alien technology wasn’t the easiest thing in the world- if it was, she’d have far fewer repair budget requests- and having it built into his nervous system was impressive. God only knew how many aliens they’d killed for the technology though.

Winn flinched at Alex’s glare. “Not cool?”

Lucy snorted.

“While we’re onboard, Alex can wrestle back control of the positron cannon at the DEO,” said Supergirl, ignoring her sister entirely. “It’ll be a tight squeeze to find Lena and Mon-El before she fires.”

It really wouldn’t. Lucy knew that Alex would never fire on her sister, no matter the order, no matter her sense of duty. Family first. She loved that about Alex, even if, professionally speaking, it made her want to strangle her girlfriend in less-than-fun ways.

Lillian gave Alex an appraising look. “I suspect you’re up for the challenge.”

Alex’s arms folded and she put her best Agent-face forward. “We need to get going.”

“Listen, we’re forgetting, like, the biggest obstacle of all here,” Winn warned. “Rhea.”

“Right. She took Mon-El and Lena for a reason,” Lucy agreed. “What was it?”

“Whatever it was, she’s gonna be watching them. She’s gonna need to be distracted if we’re gonna go in there and rescue those guys,” he continued.

 _We?_ Lucy mouthed.

“We’re going to need one helluva distraction,” Alex muttered.

“I’m the queen of distraction.”

Lucy pinched her nose and inhaled sharply. She had known she was forgetting something - someone - and the oncoming migraine suddenly reminded her who she’d forgotten to take into account.

Cat Grant.

If they all survived this, Lucy was taking her girlfriends, the padded handcuffs, and some silk scarves off to the Bahamas for a long, _quiet,_ and _naked_ vacation.

“Ms. Grant, this could be dangerous,” said Supergirl.

“No, no. No, this _will_ be dangerous.” Cat disagreed. “But if it’s dangerous for all of you, why shouldn’t it be dangerous for me?”

“Because you’re supposed to be on your way back to Washington?” Lucy asked.

“Oh, Olivia will be fine,” Cat said, waving her off. “But I’ll need Winslow.”

“Really? Me?”

“Well, I’m not taking the robot,” said Cat.

Henshaw looked rather put out at being called a robot, not that it mattered to Cat one bit.

“The Daxamites are powerful,” said Lillian. She swiftly handled a military rifle that Lucy hadn’t given her permission to touch. “But they are susceptible to lead. A well-placed bullet will take them out. We can do this. And we need to go now.”

Lucy watched Lillian walk away, much too confident.

She pursed her lips and waited for Supergirl and Henshaw to be further away. “I’m calling Maggie back to go with you. Luthor’s up to something.”

Alex nodded sharply.

 

* * *

 

Maggie and James hurried back to the bar faster than Lucy thought they would. Apparently, Patrol hadn’t gotten very far thanks to the Daxamites.

“What’s up, Lane?”

“We have orders from the President to take out the mothership.” Lucy slid her eyes over to where Alex was prepping her gear. “Supergirl is mounting a rescue attempt against orders.”

Maggie and James shared a look.

Lucy rolled her head, feeling her neck crack and release a little of the tension she felt. “James, Cat, and Winn are going to be the distraction. Go with them for back up.”

“You got it, Luce.”

“Sawyer, go with Danvers. She’s breaking back into the DEO to get to the cannon.” Lucy grimaced. “Orders are to take the shot. She needs you to watch her back while I watch the big picture.”

“Supergirl’s going up there?”

“Mmhm. She’s pretty adamant Lena deserves a chance.” Lucy sighed. “I’d agree with her if the entire population of the city, and eventually the world, weren’t at risk.”

Maggie nodded. She glanced around at the remaining DEO agents. “I don’t like leaving you alone.”

“I have backup, Mags. You two are the ones going in on your own.”

Maggie showed off her worried dimples. She reached out and dragged Lucy close. “Stay safe, Major Pain.”

“Take care of our girl, Detective Dimples.”

Maggie nodded and pulled away, heading for Alex.

Lucy headed back to the bartender.

 

* * *

 

Lucy sat at Winn’s makeshift station, wishing Vasquez could travel the tunnels faster without drawing Daxamite attention.

At the President’s insistence, she had a direct line to Alex’s comms.

No one said Lucy couldn’t listen in.

“And Supergirl?” Marsdin asked.

“Supergirl is dark out of mission necessity,” Alex panted. She must have been moving something, the slight screech of metal echoing through the comms. “I’ve got a very trusted agent on my six.”

Sometimes Lucy wished Maggie would make a transfer request.

Other times she woke up from the nightmare scenario of Danvers and Sawyer off-leash together in a cold sweat and needing a drink.

Alex clicked off her comms, going dark herself. She could hear them, but they couldn’t hear her.

Lucy wasn’t thrilled about that part, even understanding the necessity of it.

She tapped at the keyboard of a secondary computer and pulled up Alex and Maggie’s trackers. Along with coordinates came their heartbeats. She tried to relax at the familiar rhythms.

Cat Grant, for all her inspirational speeches, was up on yet another monitor. The few agents left in the bar watched while she worked, and reports were coming in about more of the civilians fighting back.

It was long minutes before Alex clicked her mic back on.

“Madam President, we’re in.”

“Excellent,” said Marsdin, safe and sound from her office. “How long until the cannon’s ready?”

“Powering up now.”

“We are watching closely, Agent Danvers. We expect you to fire when ready.”

Lucy was unsurprised at the threatening tone. She was a little surprised that the President, who had accessed Alex’s file at least twice that she knew of, actually seemed to think it would work.

“Yes, ma’am. Over and out.”

Alex’s mic clicked off again.

Then Lucy’s ear buzzed on the private comm line.

“What’s Kara’s status?”

“Onboard,” Lucy grunted. “Audio cut out after that. We should have audio back the moment they’re in the Fortress again.”

Minutes passed.

They felt like hours.

Lucy could hear the fighting outside, even with the soundproofing of the bar.

Finally the line beeped.

“Agent Danvers. We’re clear of the supership and safe,” said Lillian. “Fire at will.”

Lucy exhaled slowly, her frame drooping bonelessly into the chair.

“With pleasure,” Alex called back.

Then the comm crackled once. Twice.

“Alex? Alex, it’s Mon-El.”

Lucy’s heart stopped.

“Lena and I are fine. Winn’s device worked. But Supergirl stayed up there.”

Marsdin’s line came to life again. “Your time is up, Agent Danvers. The positron cannon is ready. You need to use it.”

“Alex, do you read?” Mon-El repeated, “Supergirl stayed up there!”

“Madam President, I need more time.”

“You have your orders. Complete your mission,” Marsdin insisted.

Lucy dropped her head into her hands.

Damn Kara for her need to save everyone.

And damn Alex for her loyalty.

Lucy dug her fingers into her skin, massaging her temples.

An explosion sounded.

“It’s gone... “ Alex whispered. “The positron cannon is gone.”

Supergirl was safe from atomic-level annihilation. But what of the rest of the world?

“Fuck,” Lucy groaned.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments or come yell at me on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](http://bathtimfunduck.tumblr.com)! 
> 
> (no seriously it's been months I want to know what you think)


	22. Episode 22: The Grand Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things must come to an end.
> 
> So do alien invasions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @4beit (onefootone aka SPACEMOOSE) for helping me flush out the points for this chapter. And everyone else along the way, especially those who put up with my whining about it.

**Episode 22: The Grand Finale**

Lucy scrambled. She called in every available agent on patrol, geared them up, and had them converge on HQ. She lead the pack, of course. Her girls had snuck inside, but they were trapped and alone, and the positron cannon was toast. 

She couldn’t wait to hear it from the President. 

She’d be lucky to be court martialed, let alone keep her promotion.

The fight to retake HQ took nearly an hour. Much of the original invasion force had moved out to help conquer the city, but it still cost her several agents. Much like the NCPD, the DEO would not be without casualties, and Lucy couldn’t help but hate herself a little more with each loss. 

She was the first to reach the door to the cannon’s controls. Maggie and Alex had jammed the mechanism from the other side. Probably by shooting it. Unlike her girlfriends, Lucy had no intention of shooting first and asking questions later. While the majority of agents cleared the rest of the building, Lucy and her team went to work on the locking mechanism. She wished, not for the first time, that she hadn’t left Vasquez in the desert. 

Johnson touched a few of the wires together and they let off sparks. 

The security doors opened. 

Lucy was greeted by the barrels of her girlfriends’ guns. “You’re welcome.”

“You took back the DEO?”

“What, like it’s hard?” Lucy snarked. “You two are in so much-”

The building shook with a  _ boom _ . 

“The positron cannon?” Maggie asked.

“No, it’s something else,” said Alex. 

Lucy motioned for them to follow her back to Command. Alex all but shoved a rookie out of the way of Winn’s computers. She cursed, loudly. 

“What is it?”

“The DEO system registered a major Kryptonite signature in downtown National City.”

KRYPTONITE DETECTED flashed in red across the bottom of the screen. It had to be major for their passive systems to pick it up. This was bad, very bad. 

“Oh my god. Kara…”

Alex took off.

Maggie hesitated. She looked at Lucy. “Luce-”

“Go, back her up.” Lucy shook her head. “We have our hands full here.”

Lucy waved for the rookie to come back. “You. Keep an eye on this, and keep an ear to the comms. They call for help, you let me know. In the meantime, get what’s left of NCPD on the horn, let them know we have a base of operations, a medbay, and an armory up and running.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lucy glanced down at her phone. Winn and James were back at the bar with J’onn. It wasn’t safe to move him, but there was no sign of him waking up any time soon. 

She needed him awake so he could take over and she could kick Alex’s ass. 

 

\--

 

Lucy had Maggie swing by the bar to help escort the others and J’onn back to the base. Without Alex, because her alien sister had apparently swooped her and Superman off to who knew where to do who knew what. 

She was going to kill them. For real. 

The Danvers Sisters were going to put her in an early grave. 

Her father would be right. 

That woman was going to be the death of her.

“Luce?”

“You too.”

Maggie frowned. “What?”

Lucy shook her head. “Nothing. Just wishing I could drink right about now.”

“You and me both.”

“Any idea where they went?”

“That fortress maybe?”

Lucy inhaled sharply. Sub Zero temperatures. Wonderful. 

Maggie stepped around the desk separating them and rubbed at Lucy’s shoulders. “We’ll get through this, Lucy.”

Lucy leaned back and let herself sink into Maggie’s warmth. “You’re sleeping on the couch.”

“What? And Alex gets the bed?”

“Pft,  _ no _ . Alex gets the  _ floor _ .”

Maggie chuckled and pressed a kiss to Lucy’s head. “I suppose that’s fair.”

“Knew you’d see it-”

Johnson burst into the room. “Ma’am…”

His eyes widened. His cheeks flushed. “Um. Sorry. Sorry ma’am. Ma’ams.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “What is it, Johnson?”

“Radar picked up incoming. Fast, like, alien fast.”

Lucy shared a look with Maggie. “Let me guess. Coming south?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lucy slipped away from Maggie’s hands and out of the chair, reaching back to tug Maggie along with her. “Let’s go see what trouble Alex is bringing back with her, hmm?”

“What makes you-” Maggie paused. “You know what, nevermind.”

They walk out just in time. Mon-El and Winn were closer, waiting on the stairs as Supergirl stumbled her landing, with Superman dropping Alex lightly to her feet. Lucy marched her way over, with Maggie just behind her. 

Johnson was smart enough to keep his distance. 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Winn hollered. 

“Kara!” The space douche made sure to stake his claim, wrapping himself around Supergirl like some kind of limpet. “Are you okay?”

Lucy stopped at the base of the stairs and crossed her arms. Maggie clasped her hands behind her back and raised her eyebrows. 

Kara patted Mon-El awkwardly on the back. “I’m much better now.”

Lucy snorted. Maggie had the nerve to elbow her for it.

Winn stumbled his way up the last two stairs, looking drunk on his little crush. “Hi, hey. I’m sure… you probably don’t remember me. Hi.”

Superman reached out and shook Winn’s hand. “Winn Schott, resident genius of the DEO? It’s good to see you, buddy.”

“I thought Alex was the resident genius,” Maggie muttered.

“Remind me to remind him employees are required to wash their hands,” Lucy replied. 

“It’s good,” Winn stuttered. 

“Good.”

‘I love you,’ Winn mouthed. 

“Oh my  _ god _ ,” Maggie groaned.

Lucy bit her lip. “No one’s straight here, I swear to god.”

Superman turned to the frog prince. “And you’re the guy who’s dating my cousin?”

Supergirl folded her arms and forced a smile. 

“Yes, sir. Mon-El of Daxam.” He waved his arms about. “Though, uh… not.. Not like the, uh… You know, the others of Daxam. The kill-y ones?”

Supergirl grimaced. Her smile looked more and more like she was baring her teeth, and it was all Lucy could do not to laugh. 

Superman pursed his lips and offered his hand. “You must be a good guy, or she wouldn’t be with you.”

Alex coughed loudly and waved a hand at her suddenly tearing eyes. 

Lucy narrowed hers. “Danvers, you have some explaining to do.”

Supergirl nudged at her sister roughly. “Somebody’s in trouble.”

“Shut up,” Alex hissed. She grabbed at Winn and hurried them down the stairs. “What’s happening here?”

“Don’t you ‘what’s happening?’ us, Danvers,” said Maggie.

Lucy shook her head. “You are in  _ so _ much shit.” 

“Yep. As soon as the world’s saved, I’m totally taking the couch.”

“The floor,” Maggie corrected. “I have dibs on the couch.”

Alex tilted her head. “It’s my apartment though.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows expectantly. She chose to stare, rather than respond. 

Maggie folded her arms and did the same. 

Alex only took about 30 seconds before she folded. She mumbled, “I’ll take the floor.”

Winn snickered, and Alex almost elbowed him over the railing. “Wha-heeeyy. Okay. Well, J’onn is still unconscious, unfortunately. But he’s stable!”

“I’d like you to take a look at him, if you’re done running off,” said Lucy. “Hamilton’s got her hands full with more immediate needs.”

Alex nodded. 

“We cleared all Daxamite soldiers from the building.” added Maggie. 

“We might have found a way to get rid of the Daxamites in the archives at the Fortress of Solitude,” said Supergirl.

“What?” asked spaceboy. 

“Dakkum Ur.”

“ _ No _ . No, no, no. No way in hell…”

“What’s Dakkum Ur?” Lucy asked, cutting off the tantrum. 

“The only option we’ve got.”

“A bad option,” Alex added. 

The alarms began to blare. 

“Jesus Christ,  _ what now? _ ” Lucy growled. 

“The energy weapons in the Daxamite ships are charging up!” Johnson called back. 

“They’re waging another attack,” Alex said, cursing. 

“Winn, get me a face to face with Rhea,” Supergirl ordered. 

Winn glanced at Lucy. 

“Do it.”

She should probably reprimand him for looking to Alex next. 

Alex nodded. 

Winn tapped at his screen and motioned Supergirl closer. He held it up in front of her and nodded. 

“Queen Rhea of Daxam. I, Supergirl, champion of planet Earth, invoke the sacred rite of Dakkam Ur. To meet with you in single combat before the gods. May the fate of my people rest on the fate of my life.”

Alex was right. 

That was a  _ horrible _ option. 

Lucy dug into her pocket for some more TUMS. Maggie snatched them from her hand and popped a few herself. 

They waited a moment. 

A very, very tense moment. 

The systems beeped again, and Rhea’s face appeared on each and every one of them. 

Evil aged well. 

“Dakkam Ur. I accept your challenge, Supergirl. We duel in four hours. Daxam assures you it will be your last.”

The systems beeped again, and the screens went black. 

“What just happened?” Winn asked. 

“The ships’ radiation signature is diminishing,” Johnson called. 

“Their weapons are powering down,” Alex sighed. 

“What did you just  _ do _ , Supergirl?” Lucy sighed. 

“She’s gonna end this,” replied Superman.

“Don’t get me started on  _ you _ , Clark.” Lucy glared at him. “Go call Lois.”

Lucy stole her TUMS back from Maggie.

 

\--

 

“You just invoked a trial by combat created by barbarians!”

“So… Daxamites?” Lucy asked. 

Mon-El didn’t appreciate the comparison. He threw a glare at her and dragged Supergirl away from the rest of them. “It’s been around since we crawled out of the caves on Daxam with rocks and sticks.”

“The caves on Daxam?” Supergirl huffed. “You mean the transport pods we sent settlers out in?”

He scowled. 

“If I win, she goes.” Supergirl waved her hands. “They  _ all _ go. They are bound by ancient law to leave this planet in peace. She’s not gonna win.”

“But what if she does?” he asked. “Do you know what will happen?”

She jerked out of his grip and held her ground. She put her hands on her hips and set her jaw. 

Supergirl looked exactly like her big sister.

“You’ll have to stand by and watch as she tramples everyone on this planet underfoot,” he shouted. 

Lucy reached for Alex’s belt, noting Maggie reaching for the other side. 

“I just have to beat her. And I will,” said Supergirl. “If you don’t like that, well, I guess you should have gone with her when she asked, and we could have avoided all of this.”

“I stayed for you!”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have.”

“Cheering would be bad right?” Maggie whispered. 

“Why not Superman? Isn’t this his fight, too?” Mon-El tried desperately. 

Superman made a face. 

Lucy snickered. No boyfriend, let alone husband, of Lois Lane would stand for that level of sexism. She had him trained well. 

“It’s everyone’s fight. But Kara just defeated me.”

“She kicked his ass,” Alex added helpfully. 

Superman side-eyed his adoptive cousin. “She’s the champion of Earth.”

Supergirl sighed. “I don’t have time for you to be afraid.”

She pushed past him and stopped in front of Lucy. “I’ve got this.”

“I know you do.”

“You’re just going to let her  _ go _ ?”

Lucy inhaled. She counted to ten. 

“Mon-El,” Alex forced through gritted teeth. “If you-”

Lucy tugged Alex’s belt. “Mon-El, she made her choice. She doesn’t work for me. The best thing we can do is support her.”

Mon-El left in a huff. 

“Bye, Felicia.”

“Oh my  _ God _ , Maggie,” Lucy groaned. 

“I’m going to check on J’onn,” said Alex. 

“You do that, Danvers.”

Alex slunk off, the weight of the day heavy on her shoulders. Winn glanced between her and the door Mon-El stormed through; he must have decided the alien was less dangerous than Alex. 

He was probably right. 

Maggie sagged into Lucy’s side. Her head dropped to Lucy’s shoulder. “Tell me we have a back up plan.”

“That’s what Little Luthor’s for.”

 

\--

 

Winn limped back in the room like a puppy who peed where he shouldn’t have. 

“Didn’t go well, Schott?”

He shook his head. He rubbed the back of his neck and clutched his tablet to his chest. “He doesn’t think Kara will win.”

“She has to,” Lucy said. “And if she can’t, we will.”

Supergirl stomped back and forth in front of the news report, ignoring all of them. Lucy wasn’t sure what she was waiting for, but she was very clearly waiting for something. 

Or someone. 

Winn glanced at the news headlines. “Woof. No pressure or anything. We need to contain this.”

He glanced behind him and gasped. “Hey! Papa Bear!”

Lucy spun herself, and consequently, Maggie around. She felt the dimples forming over her shoulder. She reached up and poked Maggie’s dimple without looking, well aware that her own were forming. For once, Maggie didn’t smack her hand away. 

“J’onn!”

Winn ran around the table, tossing his tablet aside as he did so. “Hey! Papa Bear!” He slid to a stop in front of J’onn, pulling him into a bearhug. 

“Easy!” said Alex. 

J’onn laughed and hugged Winn back. 

The rest of them wandered over, containing themselves somewhat like the adults they all were. Maggie dragged Lucy over to Alex’s side, while the Supers planted themselves in front of J’onn. Alex squeezed herself between her girlfriends. 

She practically vibrated in excitement. 

Superman offered his hand. “It’s good to see you on your feet.”

“Welcome, my friend,” said J’onn. 

Supergirl barely gave her cousin a chance to let go before she threw herself at J’onn. “Should you be up and walking around?”

“Should you be trying to strangle the man who just woke up?” Lucy wanted to laugh, but she was more than a little relieved. Now she could follow Alex while she did her Stupid and Reckless Things, and J’onn could stay home to babysit the rest of the toddlers. 

“We need all the help we can get.” J’onn pulled away from the hug and looked at Supergirl with concern. “Alex told me about the offer you made. We’ll get everything you need.”

J’onn glanced over Supergirl’s shoulder at the news still playing in the background. “But for right now, that needs to be handled.”

“You don’t want an audience of innocent civilians when you fight Rhea,” Lucy agreed. 

“No matter how cool the YouTube compilations would be.”

“WINN!”

 

\--

 

Lucy sat on the edge of the holotable, a bag of tools next to her. Alex and Winn sat on the floor below, trying to bring it back online. Maggie sat on the other side of the bag, unashamedly staring at Alex’s ass when she leaned under. 

Lucy did too, but she was at least pretending to be useful. 

“Can you hand me the number 7 phillips, boss?”

Lucy dug around in the bag until she came across the plastic organizer that  _ so _ helpfully labelled each size. She slipped the tool from its organizer and held it out handle-first. No use tempting the toddlers with injury. 

J’onn leaned off the other side of the table, studying reports from the NCPD and DEO scouting teams. 

He looked displeased when his old fashioned paperwork blew everywhere. 

She still couldn’t believe that Winn got the printers online before the holotable. 

Lucy tilted her head at the Supers. “So what did Lillian want?”

Superman sighed so dramatically that Lucy wondered for a moment if he’d been possessed by her sister. “Lillian and Lena have a way, a fail-safe, to get rid of the Daxamites if Kara doesn’t beat Rhea.”

Supergirl leaned over the table, refusing to make eye contact. “It’s a device that will seed the Earth’s atmosphere with lead.”

Alex hit her head on the table. Lucy and Maggie both peeked over the edge with concern. 

“Lead’s not safe for humans, either!”

“Lena swears it’s microscopic levels. Won’t hurt humans, but will be just enough-”

“-To kill all Daxamites.” Mon-El muttered. “The lead in that bullet was coated. If it gets in our lungs, we’d die much faster.”

“You might be able to survive a little longer than the others. You’ve been absorbing the yellow sun for months now,” said Superman. 

Mon-El glanced down. “If it comes down to it, you use it. I won’t be the reason this planet suffers.”

Maggie coughed out something that sounded like  _ too late _ . Lucy reached over and pinched her for it. 

“It’s not going to come to that!” said Supergirl. “I told Lena to start working, but I want to be very clear- I don’t want this to cost any more lives than it already has- human or otherwise. I will beat her, and we will  _ not _ shoot the atmosphere full of  _ lead _ to do it.”

“Of course not, that would be an environmental disaster- and a significant risk to human life! That, my friends, is unacceptable!”

Lucy whipped around so hard she slipped off the table. She stared in disbelief before turning to Johnson. “Johnson, what the fuck?”

The rookie looked terrified and clueless. 

Lucy turned back to the newcomer as he sauntered up. She glanced down and kicked Alex squarely in the ass. “Danvers, your boyfriend’s here.”

_ Thunk! _ The sound was followed by a sea of curses as Alex dragged herself out of the console. She stood up, conveniently, between Maggie’s thighs. Her face, though, was the highlight of Lucy’s week. 

Alex cycled through the seven stages of grief, one by one, right in front of her. 

“Maxwell Lord,” she finally spat. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Lord didn’t look as charming with a full beard. It didn’t help hide his lack of defined jaw, unlike  _ any  _ of the men surrounding the table. His suit had seen better days, but his grin was as smarmy as ever. 

“Your boyfriend, Danvers? I would consider myself lucky.”

“I’d consider it never.”

“Is that any way to treat the man who’s going to save us all from lead poisoning?”

“What do you want, Mister Lord?” J’onn said. 

“To help.” Lord snapped his fingers and the two men who accompanied him placed their suitcases on the table. “Since my escape-”

“Escape from  _ where _ ?” Lucy asked.

“Not important. What  _ is _ important, is that I come bearing gifts, so you and Danvers’ little attack dog there should play nice.”

While Maggie  _ was  _ baring her teeth, she was also the one with her legs wrapped around Danvers so that Alex wouldn’t go for the jugular. 

Like most straight men, Lord wasn’t proving to be particularly observant. 

He never had been, with Alex. 

Max waved his hand at the first suitcase. The beefier of his two companions opened it. Max reached in and pulled out some type of suit, small, probably skin tight. He tossed it to Lucy. “First, let’s call it plan C, if the Maiden of Might falls to the Predator Queen.”

Lucy held it up in front of her, a little weirded out to see that it looked like it would fit. It was sleek, black, with some type of metallic framework running through it. “What the  _ hell _ is it?”

“A favor for your father. Danvers has her suit, you have yours.” Max grinned. “It should fit perfectly.”

Lucy held it out with her fingertips, suddenly even less willing to touch it. “I don’t want to know.”

Max waived at the other man, whose briefcase was much smaller. Two headsets, and a small USB drive. “Plan B. A  _ good _ plan B, that won’t kill everyone off in five to ten with lead poisoning. Seriously, what was Luthor thinking?”

Lucy dropped the suit onto Winn, who was finally beginning to peek over the side. She ignored his protests and focused on Lord. “What’s that?”

“I told you, Plan B.”

“But what does it  _ do _ , Max?” Alex growled. 

“The original Myriad may have been launched into space, but it was bounced off my satellites. I found enough of the code to recreate a version that should only affect those who come from a red-sun system. The Rao system, specifically.”

Alex launched herself over Maggie. It took the combined efforts of her girlfriends to bring her crashing to the table just shy of the cases. 

Lord had the gall to look insulted. “Hey, HEY. Down, Danvers, don’t you see the headsets? I made one for each of our pals in blue.”

“And we’re supposed to believe they work?” 

“Supergirl saved all of us,” Lord admitted. 

It looked like it hurt. 

“I owe her one. And I owe you one. I figured I had the parts to protect them, so I could cash out a few of those favors I owe.”

“There’s only two,” said Supergirl. 

“Well yeah. There’s only two Kryptonians we want to keep, right?”

Supergirl looked up at Mon-El. 

He clenched his jaw. “Right.”

“So we can’t use the signal indefinitely, because it throws off the whales. And the black fin sharks, oddly enough, just them, but I’d rather not endanger more species than necessary. But it should only take like ten minutes before their- the Daxamites’- brains go ka-plooey, so we should be fine.” Max nodded. “Much better than toxic air.”

“So we hit the switch, they take off or die, and what, celebrate you as a hero?”

“Hey, Alex, if you want to stay laid out on a table, I have a sheepskin I could throw on one back at my apart-”

Lucy pulled her gun. “Please, continue.”

Max blinked. 

Alex finally scrambled off the table and back between Lucy and Maggie. “Can I hit the table with his head?”

“This table cost more than your salary for the next ten years, Agent Danvers.” J’onn shook his head. “And hitting technology rarely fixes the problem.”

“It would make me feel better,” she argued. 

Max held up his hands. “I’m just trying to help.”

“And the suit?” Lucy asked.

“A favor for your dad. He helped me out of a tight spot.”

“What’s it do?”

“It enhances your abilities. Levels the playing field with aliens without giving your their weaknesses.”

“How?”

“It’s all above-board,” he promised. “Just some old research of mine, combined with some of your Doctor Hamilton’s.”

Lucy’s eye twitched. “Hamilton helped you?”

“Mmhm. Back in the day we worked very closely together.”

Lucy shared a look with Alex, then J’onn. She looked back at Lord. “This suit works?”

“Like a charm.”

Lucy nodded. “Fine. Supergirl, I’m your second.”

“ _ What _ ? No. If anyone should be her second it should be-”

“You are not going to hurt Rhea and you know it, Mamma’s Boy.” Lucy snorted. “I need Alex on the ground with Sawyer, and Supergirl needs back up. Besides, it’s my time for some fun.”

“Is anyone planning to introduce the new faces at the table?”

“I’m Detective Sawyer,” Maggie said with a grin. “Aren’t there still a few warrants out with your name on them,  _ Mister _ Lord?”

Lord lifted his hands in surrender. 

Supergirl shook her head. “Luce, I don’t trust him. But I  _ do _ trust Lena.”

“Put the headset on, Kara. When we get in the field, we’ll wait to see if she gets it done in time. Schott can go help. But I’m not sending you without backup, and Alex’s suit is still slated for repairs.” Lucy softened a little. “Little D, you can make the final call, I swear. But we need every card we’ve got.”

Supergirl dropped her head to the table and nodded. 

“Wonderful. Johnson, get someone up here to keep an eye on our intruders, eh?  _ And lock down that damn door _ .”

 

\--

 

The suit, quite honestly, felt like that one time her college roomate dared her to put on a pleather bodysuit and remake the music video for “Toxic.” There was a slight resistance to every movement, and it kind of felt like a permanent wedgie. 

She and Alex dragged Lord to a training room while the Supers worked out in their own. Maggie drew the short straw and was stuck acting as an armed escort for Winn. 

“Now what?”

Max shrugged. “You haven’t turned it on yet?”

Lucy looked down. She felt like she was in TRON. “There’s an On Button?”

Max rolled his eyes and reached forward to press at a spot that looked exactly like the rest of her wrist. 

There was a faint hum. 

Then pain. 

Lucy shrieked as barbs from the neck of the suit stuck into the back of her spine, digging deep. She collapsed onto the floor as a current ran through her, her muscles twitching with each pulse. It hurt to breathe, it felt like she’d been shoved into icy water face first while the rest of her burned. 

And then it stopped. 

Lucy lay there, panting. Her eyes were closed. 

She heard Alex’s gun charge up. 

She looked up to find Lord on the ground, Alex’s gun pointed straight between his eyes. “Alex, don’t-”

She shouted. Or, she tried to. Her words were cut off by a blast of cold air, blowing hard enough to push the gun out of Alex’s hand. 

Alex froze. 

Not literally, but there were ice crystals forming on her fingernails. 

“What the fuck?”

“Oh good, it works!”

“You say that like you weren’t sure it would,” Lucy murmured, still staring at Alex’s hand. 

“I mean, you weren’t exactly around for testing.”

“You gave my girlfriend untested equipment?”

“Your girl-” Max paused. “Actually, you know what, that makes so much more sense. You’re the only woman who ever resisted me, Danvers.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. And shot out the lights. 

Because she had heat vision. 

Of course she did. 

“We should probably work on that,” Max said. 

Lucy closed her eyes. 

She  _ heard _ Alex kick him in the nuts. 

She chose to pretend she hadn’t. There was a lot to do, and clearly not enough time to do it in.

 

\--

 

She needed  _ way _ more practice before she could fly on her own. 

Way more practice. 

But it was  _ also _ , apparently, a thing she could do now. 

Alex was very bad at hiding her jealousy. 

Lucy was tempted to ask Winn to see if he could make modifications later, because she was having all sorts of ideas. Alex did love adrenaline, after all. 

She didn’t mind the lift from Supergirl, but she was a little bitter their team-up was accompanied by the leaping frog prince. His guilt complex was a day late and a dollar short. 

They landed softly on the chosen rooftop. 

“I’ve got your six.”

Supergirl smiled, “I know, Luce.”

“I’m here for you too.”

“Yeah, thanks, Mon-El.”

Rhea beamed down, re-materializing before them. 

Pity any jokes about Scotty would likely be lost on everyone else on the rooftop.

“I see you brought some moral support,” Rhea sneered. 

“I see you did too,” Supergirl said, motioning to the guardsman who’d accompanied her. 

“Once you are disposed of, I have your word that your forces will lay down arms? That this city, this nation, and this world, will bow down before me?”

“On my honor.”

Lucy grit her teeth. A part of her couldn’t believe she was letting an alien speak for the entirety of the human race. 

The other part wanted to laugh hysterically at the thought that Rhea believed Kara, the most human of them all, had the power to make the rest of them obey. 

“And if I defeat you, your invasion ends. You leave, once and for all.”

Rhea turned and nodded at her man. 

He bowed his head in return and walked out of the way. Lucy and Mon-El did much the same on their end of the roof. 

Lucy really wished the suit had pockets for her TUMS. 

They did their little salute, and then they were off, charging at one another. 

Lucy shook her head as the sounds around her got louder. She wasn’t sure she really liked this thing, if she was going to have to deal with everything Kara did. 

Her eyes caught a flash of red. 

Rhea had Supergirl by the cape, using it against her, and slamming her around. 

Supergirl stood, disoriented. 

A buzzing noise flickered into Lucy’s range of hearing. She glanced up and cursed. 

The ships were back. The lights of their laser guns flashing as they prepared another attack. They weren’t even aiming at military and police units, just civilians. Business, apartments, even parking decks. 

“You agreed to the Dakkam Ur! Send them back!” 

Rhea sneered. 

“You will dishonor yourself before the gods,” said Mon-El, as he approached his mother. 

Lucy eyed her bodyguard and readied herself. 

“My gods are only concerned with my victory,” Rhea said proudly. 

Something, probably a car, exploded below. 

“No! No, destroying this city is not the answer,” Supergirl pled.

“A city that’s destroyed will need a new leader to rebuild it.”

“That’s what they said about Detroit, lady,” Lucy muttered. “We’re still waiting on that.”

“Go,” Supergirl said to Mon-El. “Go be a hero.”

Mon-El glanced at Lucy before nodding and taking a flying leap off a tall roof. Lucy prayed he’d be more help out there. 

Supergirl and Rhea went after each other again. Hit after hit, with the rooftop taking a beating. Still the guard watched with a smirk, his arms folded. 

They slowed. 

“You’re getting tired.”

“Hit me, then. Consider it a gift.”

Supergirl did. A running leap, and one hell of a right hook later, Rhea spun and slammed her face into concrete. 

The guard still didn’t look concerned. 

“You ready to give up now?”

Rhea reached for her temple and smirked. 

Lucy felt her heart freeze over, able to see what Supergirl couldn’t. 

She’d seen Supergirl bleed. It was red. 

Rhea’s was green.

Glowing. 

Kryptonite. 

“Hardly.” Rhea stood and turned, showing off her glowing blood-covered fingers. “Because of your people, Kryptonite poisoned my entire world.”

Supergirl stumbled back, already looking ill. 

“I’ve carried it across galaxies. It’s part of me now. So go ahead. Make me bleed,” Rhea taunted. 

Green skirted across Supergirl’s face. 

Lucy could only watch as Rhea pummeled Supergirl down the rooftop and then back up. She stumbled as the building shook. 

Superman flashed by, and the guard took off. 

Supergirl was flagging. Every punch was countered. Supergirl could barely stand, but she kept trying, bolstered by Rhea’s endly bragging. 

Lucy was ready to step in, honor  be damned, when Supergirl finally landed a decent hit. 

Rhea hit the wall and stumbled. 

Mon-El rejoined them just in time for Lucy’s comm to buzz. The lead was ready, but so was Max’s myriad. 

Lucy could still see the earpiece flashing in Supergirl’s ear. It had survived the beatings. 

Lucy marched over to Rhea and grabbed her by the throat. She had to allow herself to fly, just a little bit, to actually hold the woman off the ground. 

She was never going to tell Alex that. 

“It’s over, Rhea.”

Supergirl held two remotes. “Luce. Which one?”

“Who do you trust more?” Lucy asked, rifling through Rhea’s pockets. She found something that looked like the remote from Earth One and tossed it to Mon-El. 

“Please. Save yourself, your people need a leader,” Supergirl pled. 

“I love you.”

“Go, Mon-El. Please.”

Lucy glanced over her shoulder as Mon-El touched his own remote and beamed up to the mothership. 

Supergirl picked a remote. 

Something exploded from L-Corp. Lucy flinched back from the sound and dropped Rhea. 

Rhea hit the ground and started to gasp. Without her transporter, she couldn’t beam up like her soldiers were. 

“I’m sorry it came to this, Rhea,” Supergirl said. 

Rhea turned to dust and crumbled. 

“Are you serious?” Lucy asked. “Are we certain a wooden stake wouldn’t have done the job?”

Supergirl frowned at her before turning to watch the ships leave orbit. “He’s gone.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “Are you?”

“You’re going to regret choosing Luthor over me,” Lord said, his voice crackling over the comms. “You made a big mistake there, Supergirl.”

Supergirl cried out as the piece in her ear buzzed high and loud, sending her to her knees. 

Lucy reacted, ripping it from Kara’s head and blasting it with her own heat vision. “Someone check on Superman.”

“I’ve got him,” said J’onn. 

Supergirl cradled her ear, traces of blood dripping down it, no doubt at least partially in thanks to her exposure to Kryptonite. Lucy kicked at the dust formerly known as Rhea before kneeling to help Supergirl stand. 

“C’mon, hero. The stairs are going to take us a while.”

 

\--

 

The DEO was full of cheer, just as the streets were, by the time she and J’onn managed to get the Supers back to the DEO. It was hell and a half trying to get them away from the crowds without completely blowing the building’s cover, and involved several fits and starts (and more than a little property damage) as Lucy got her metaphorical wings under her. 

But they survived and returned to base. 

Lucy made her way out of the debrief with the President, who ripped her a new one for failing to follow orders and praised her command of the situation in the same breath. Her father too, complimented her, though he was focused on her suit. 

It made her want to get it off as soon as possible.

As soon as she found the switch. 

Easier said than done, as Lord had made his escape before blowing the earpieces, taking his tech with him. Lucy and J’onn needed to plan another sweep for moles, his escape should have been impossible. 

She froze at the sight of J’onn making hearteyes at M’gann, practically cuddling in the middle of the DEO. When they moved to kiss, she moved her hand to her mouth and inhaled…

Only to have Maggie pull her fingers away from her lips. “They don’t need you scaring the shit out of them with that soccer coach whistle of yours, Lane.”

“You take out all the fun, Sawyer.”

“Liar liar pants on fire.”

“Speaking of taking pants off, where’s Alex?”

“Balcony with Kara. Looks serious. Think she’ll be okay?”

Lucy poked at Maggie’s dimples and got swatted away. She thought back to the fight, and the aftermath. The build up earlier. Mon-El was gone, and he wouldn’t be able to come back for a long time, maybe ever. 

But Kara had never looked heartbroken over that. 

“I think she’ll be ok. He wasn’t the one for her anyway.”

“Mmhmm,” Maggie agreed. She craned her neck. “C’mon, I think Alex is alone.”

They took the steps quietly, dodging the still kissing Martians, though Maggie paused long enough to snap a photo. J’onn would thank them later. 

Alex leaned over the railing, uncomfortably close to the hole Lucy tried not to think of her jumping off of. She and Maggie wrapped their arms around her, each picking a shoulder. She practically melted into them, dust, debris and all. 

“She’ll be okay,” said Maggie. 

“I hope so.”

“I know so,” Lucy countered. 

Alex turned in their arms, still looking uncertain. 

“Hey, we know the Danvers girls, okay?” said Maggie. 

“They don’t break easy,” Lucy agreed. 

Alex paused. She stared at them one at a time, deep in their eyes, as if she was looking for them. Her lips twitched as if she’d found whatever it was, though the rest of her face stayed dead serious. “Marr-”

Lucy’s eyes widened and she rushed to put a finger against Alex’s lips. “Danvers, I swear to god.”

“Mmpf.”

Maggie pulled away to give Lucy a weird look. “Luce?”

“Danvers, I swear to god, if you say what I think you were gonna say, I’m going to push you off this damn balcony and then I’m going to debate whether I catch you or not.”

“Lucy?”

“Sawyer, you weren’t here last year, but you’ve been around long enough to know that the Danvers girls are strong, but they are  _ dumb as fuck  _ right after life-altering circumstances, mmkay?” Lucy took a deep breath. “Alex, I love you. I love Maggie. She loves both of us.”

“I do.”

“So let’s take this one step at a time, okay? Like, a dog. Or a new apartment.”

“One with walls,” Maggie suggested.

“Maybe we could handle both,” Lucy nodded. She stared into Alex’s eyes, praying for her to understand. “Let’s get our names on the same lease before we U-haul, okay?”

“Technically-”

“Shut up, Sawyer,” Lucy growled. “Danvers, do you get me? Not  _ no _ , okay? Just not- just not  _ now. _ ”

Alex thought it over. She nodded, and Lucy removed her hand. 

“I have a request though.”

“Name it, Danvers.”

“Can we get a place with a guest room, so your least favorite can still get a  _ couch _ instead of  _ the floor _ ?”

 

**End.**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's over. 
> 
> NOT ENTIRELY. S3 au is being plotted out and will be posted after I've gotten a chunk of it done (it'll be huge). 
> 
> In the meantime, be on the lookout for DVD extras for this series, and some other projects to wrap up. PLUS the prompt box is open (I'm looking at you, Directorship shippers, I need a little more direction than "MORE ALEX/LUCY")
> 
> It's been a ride, folks. Let me know what you think in the comments or over on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](http://www.bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com) yeah?

**Author's Note:**

> Drop me a line on tumblr [@bathtimefunduck](https://www.bathtimefunduck.tumblr.com)


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